https://www.economist.com/business/2018/12/15/the-biggest-brand-in-digital-media-has-lost-much-of-its-lustre
Vice and other formerly hot digital media properties are on a losing streak, as Google and Facebook have squashed all competitors in the digital-advertising marketplace. The duopoly commands the majority of the $100bn internet advertising market in America; Vice, BuzzFeed and Vox combined get less than 1% of that market. Vice fell well short of its total sales target for 2017, of $800m, and will fare little better in 2018, with perhaps $700m in revenues. Previously profitable, Vice is losing money.
https://www.economist.com/business/2018/12/15/a-tobacco-giant-hashes-out-a-deal-with-a-cannabis-company
As demand for cigarettes has fizzled, Altria has increased its prices and cut costs to try to drive profits. A move into cannabis, which was recently legalised in Canada, is no quick fix but the long-term prospects for the cannabis market, if and when the drug is more widely legalised in America, are tempting. At present recreational cannabis is legal in just ten states. Some reckon the total market could be worth between $40bn-70bn, equivalent to America’s spending on wine or spirits. Altria’s revenues in 2017 were a little over $25bn.
