Independent creators increasingly license shows to traditional media companies

Casey Newton and Kevin Roose licensed a new AI and technology show, Machine Gods, to NPR after leaving The New York Times. Their former Hard Fork brand remained with The New York Times. Deirdre Bosa licensed a show to Yahoo Finance after leaving CNBC, while Joanna Stern licensed hers to NBC News. It was unclear whether Machine Gods had released its first episode at the time of the analysis.

The model combines creator independence and ownership of intellectual property with distribution and monetization by established media companies. The analysis argued that this can offer greater economic upside and flexibility than salaried newsroom work, while giving media companies more content to monetize; the exact licensing terms, duration and revenue arrangements were not specified.

Hard Fork was expected to continue with new hosts under The New York Times, and a new host was also presented for Interesting Times. The analysis predicted that more such licensing deals between independent media creators and traditional companies would follow.