Profitability Is Power: NYPR CEO and President Christy Tanner Discusses Free News, FAST Sports, and Transitioning to Public Media
In this interview, New York Public Radio (NYPR) president and CEO Christy Tanner discusses her long and varied career in media, from her early days in the pre-digital era working for the Associated Press (AP) to the ways that she worked to optimize growth and influence at streaming organizations such as CBS Interactive and to raise the profile of women’s sports at Swerve TV.
Tanner moved into her current role at the helm of NYPR in February 2026. In these times of eroding public trust in mass media, she addresses how NYPR bolsters trust through transparent reporting and community engagement and how the organization is meeting this moment of drastically reduced federal funding by emphasizing the freedom of speech that journalism and the arts represent. She also questions any assumed strategic distinctions between for-profit and nonprofit media, emphasizing that even public media organizations must focus on profitability in order to hold those in power accountable.
Let’s set the stage with a career recap. You were CEO of TV Guide Digital, leading the sale to CBS of TV Guide Digital’s standalone business; EVP and general manager of CBS News Digital; the founder of Coraly Partners, where your clients included PBS; and a member of the board of directors and chair of the Audit Committee at Audacy. You’re currently chair of Swerve Sports, and most recently, you’ve become CEO and president of NYPR. How does it feel to be in a mostly audio-only world at this point after so much time primarily working in streaming video and CTV?
Well, Tyler, it’s all media. And I think in 2026, we can safely say that all media is media. That sounds like such a weird thing to say, but it’s converged in a way that the labels we in the industry have placed on ourselves in terms of verticals for distribution and content no longer apply.
I started my career at the Associated Press as a journalist. That was my very first job. I was a reporter and editor for the AP in New York City and then in South Carolina. Then I was a reporter for The Daily Newspaper in Memphis, Tenn. I covered everything, especially for the AP. You’re covering a basketball game one day and a trial for murder the next. And I would say the AP was the internet before we had the internet. You’re always on deadline. People have global access to your work.
Let’s say there’s a lack of hierarchy to some extent in digital. That was also true at the AP.
Everybody did a little bit of everything. And that really shaped me and molded me as a journalist, and it kind of set the pace for the rest of my career. In those early days of reporting, I actually did what we would now call a podcast. In the mid-’90s, I produced a weekly audio report for a French internet service, Infonie, which no longer exists. It was in French and covered American politics. I would call a phone number in France, record an audio file, and it would be distributed through the AOL of France at the time. I found I was getting fans in France who were listening to my audio report in my okay French.
That was when I knew the internet would be a big deal and impact people’s lives. That is what led me to go to business school in the late ’90s. When I graduated, digital was really taking off. That was how I made the transition from journalism and pure editorial work into the hybrid world of digital and the business side of media. I have developed a practice and an expertise over these decades in creating financial models for creative output, whether that’s news or the arts. And on this path, I became the CEO of TV Guide Digital, a standalone business unit we sold to CBS Interactive in 2013. At the time, we had one of the largest mobile apps in the world in terms of our weekly, monthly, and daily active users. TV Guide in 2013 was a daily utility, like weather, sports scores, and traffic. How to find something to watch remains a burning question throughout the world. And TV Guide was the place to go for that. As streaming was taking off, we at TV Guide became the number-one driver of subscriptions for both Hulu and Netflix. As part of that discovery funnel, when people were looking for something to watch, TV Guide would be at the bottom of the funnel right before somebody decided what to watch. And when they found something that was on Netflix or Hulu, they signed up for it. And so that became part of our revenue stream at the time.
CBS News Digital
While at CBS Interactive, I was asked to run CBS News Digital as a business unit. We were investing in streaming across both paid and ad-supported apps. I launched the FAST channels for CBS. So I first built the business of CBSN, which was our 24/7 news channel, a model that was copied by other news outlets, I’m happy to say. We proved that news could be profitable while free and delivering tremendous value for consumers. After we expanded this model to our locally owned and operated stations, other major news providers followed suit. And I would say especially when there’s breaking news, like the Palisades Fire or other major moments, local news is free and streaming on your phone, on your TV, on YouTube, via apps, and it’s ubiquitous now.
This was not a foregone conclusion. And I’m happy to say that our incredible team that I oversaw at CBS really built this model and showed the rest of the industry that it could be done. I’ve never been happier to be copied in my life. And it persists. YouTube is putting trusted news front and center when something big breaks. This was work where we really rolled up our sleeves and did significant partnerships with the platforms to create the process and mechanisms to highlight trusted information. Is it foolproof? No. But does it work pretty well much of the time? It does.
Since 2022, you’ve been chair of Swerve Sports. How much are you still involved in Swerve TV’s FAST network? In what ways are you still involved in growing the reach of women’s sports and streaming?
In the process of evolving this model for what we now call FAST channels, I reconnected with a former TV Guide colleague, Steve Shannon, who at the time was at Roku, building out their marketing, advertising, and content business. We worked together on the launch of CBS News on The Roku Channel and throughout Roku’s ecosystem, and it thrived. And after he left Roku and after I left CBS, we connected again. Steve was working on what he believed was an incredible opportunity in free ad-supported TV: free sports. And at that point, I became chair of Swerve TV. It started out as one streaming sports channel. It initially invested in sports documentaries and found that anything related to MMA and boxing outperformed everything else. This was about 5 years ago.
That initial channel became Swerve Combat. It remains Swerve TVs flagship premier channel today.
Swerve Combat
Based on the success of that channel, the streaming platforms came to us and said, “There’s a lot of demand for women’s sports. You’ve done well; you use data to make decisions, and we like your approach. Would you consider launching a women’s sports channel?”
We spent some time evaluating it, and then we just went out, and I led the charge to put together a portfolio of women’s sports content, live sports, documentaries, series, and sports talk. We launched Swerve Women’s Sports on Roku and Pluto TV last summer. And since then, we’ve launched on a half dozen or more other platforms. And that channel is now thriving. So, based on the success of that, we started talking to platforms about their interest in podcasters and creators.
Swerve Women’s Sports
We also took a Series A round from Scott Galloway, and we launched the Prof G Channel with Scott’s podcast this spring. I started at New York Public Radio in February. I remain the chair of Swerve TV, but I’m full-time and focused on my day job at New York Public Radio. I joined the board of directors of Audacy, which is the second-largest owner of radio stations in the U.S. I was on that board for 18 months, served as chair of the audit committee, and had a front-row seat to how audio and video are converging through both Swerve and Audacy.
That leads into my next question. You said, “all media is media,” and I was wondering how NYPR might reach its audience with relatively new tech, given its long-standing loyal fan base and established hosts and programs. How do you approach audience acquisition, satisfaction, and retention differently with NYPR versus how you might have with streaming? Or is there really not much of a difference now?
I think content discovery is a common discipline regardless of the type of media that you’re in. For me, it starts with analytics and research. What do we know about the current audience? What do we know about the audience for WNYC and for WQXR, our classical station? And I began at NYPR with a deep dive into our analytics. We also commissioned a research study that told us more not only about the local market but also the national market. We have two terrestrial radio stations, but we also have more than a half dozen shows and podcasts that are distributed nationally. Our content is distributed to more than 700 radio stations nationally. And our podcasts are among the original creators of the podcast market. Radiolab, On the Media, and The New Yorker Radio Hour are among the most distributed, most listened-to, and most respected podcasts in the marketplace.
They also exist as terrestrial radio shows. I’m not into labels. I’m into IP. I think we are living in an IP-based media environment where creators are at the center of innovation, and the creator mindset is imperative for all media organizations.
In this attention economy, there are so many creators trying to get noticed. Obviously, WNYC and NYPR have an advantage because they’re coming in with a very long-standing, built-in audience dating back to when both were only terrestrial. So that does help [with reach]. What are your thoughts on that?
I would say New York Public Radio has been a multi-platform juggernaut for decades. And I’m proud to apply that label to it. I think this organization was a pioneer in podcasting and multi-platform distribution, and there’s so much trust in the existing audience that it extends to audiences who are aware of us but don’t regularly consume our content. To me, that represents the tremendous opportunity that we have globally to expand our audience. When you have somebody like David Remnick who is hosting the biggest thinkers and policymakers of our time on The New Yorker Radio Hour every week, that’s a global opportunity. On The Media is doing some of the most extensive, groundbreaking, and informative coverage of our current narrative information war that exists globally and is providing a tremendous public service in its reporting and journalism.
On the Media on WNYC
Radiolab’s creativity and its approach to our world and science are renowned in the podcasting industry. I think the way that team is constantly pushing the boundaries of creativity is inspiring for others in the space. So I see a ton of opportunity for us to expand the platforms we’re distributed on, as well as to create a new pipeline for the next generation of creators.
We’re in New York City. We have a tremendous talent pipeline. This is where people still come to interact with other creative people to innovate, explore the boundaries of artistic activity, and also to be journalists. We have access to that talent pool in a way that I would describe as a tremendous asset.
In terms of serving international audiences, do you have any foreign-language programming or plans for that? Is that within the scope of NYPR?
The ubiquity and accessibility of AI tools that can reliably translate now make multiple languages a near-term reality. We’re not currently translating our shows, but I do see that as being on the horizon very soon and one of the many ways that we can reach new audiences.
I’m 5 months into this. So, taking a look at the possibilities for this organization, the way that we think about programming our beloved, reliable, and stalwart terrestrial radio stations is a model that works. We still have millions of people who rely on our terrestrial radio stations for classical music, news, talk, and information. The hosts of the shows are trusted providers of information and are also partners and members of the artistic community.
But as we think about how we create a new pipeline of innovation and talent, we do have to look at other languages, new verticals, or new communities that we are serving. Because as a public media organization, we are mission-driven. And the way we represent and serve not only the New Yorkers in New York City but the New Yorker in everyone, as we reach a global audience, will be constantly rethought. I’m a big believer in the need for agility and continuous reinvention, and New York epitomizes that. We’re all living and working in buildings that stand where something else once stood, for better or for worse. And we’re on an island where you don’t expand outward, you expand up, or you tear it down, and you rebuild. And I think that’s probably, to some extent, what happens, generally speaking, in the media right now.
To build on what came before, you re-evaluate what’s working and what isn’t. We’re evaluating what fulfills the mission and what may no longer do so. We’re looking at what our mission will evolve into in the future. What does public service mean in an era of fragmented and ubiquitous media where everyone can become their own content factory? I think we do stand for trust. We do stand for truth and facts, and we stand for supporting the arts and creativity. And I would describe news and the arts as the yin and yang of New York Public Radio. We want to center both of those verticals equally.
We’ve been talking about trust in media, and recent studies have shown that trust in media, including streaming and broadcast journalism, is declining for many people. I’m curious to hear your thoughts on the climate for public media at this point. There are the Trump administration’s efforts to gut federal funding for public media, with $1.1 billion in cuts. Did you come into this position at NYPR with any plans for how to handle this hostile climate to ensure that the cuts don’t affect your diversity in programming and the public’s trust in it?
When I came into this institution, I was already a fan and a listener. And as a media executive, I knew it was a great institution with tremendous potential and incredible talent, with an opportunity to expand our reach enormously. Our audiences are everywhere, and the caliber of our journalism and our access to culture are unprecedented.
One of the ways that we meet this moment is to invest in journalism and culture and to center them, to make sure that we are exposing this trusted information and this incredible artistic talent to the widest possible audience. The way to meet the moment that we’re in is to invest in the expansion of our audience because we know that we have to change, and we’re making change with humility, but what’s going to fuel our growth and engagement is sharing our reporting and our access to this world-class artistic talent with not only our existing audience, but with new audiences.
That growth results in increased funding that can become a continuous pipeline and, ultimately, an investment in what I would humbly say is democracy. The freedom of speech that journalism and the arts represent is already centered in this institution, and the opportunity to grow is, I believe, what will ultimately win the day.
Have you seen a significant increase in membership support, especially recently, amid these federal cuts?
Most public media organizations have seen growth in member support during this challenging period, and we have seen that as well. Having said that, we’re never complacent, and we know that we have to continually earn trust and financial support. So we’re constantly looking at and evaluating how we can create even greater impact. And we believe one avenue for that will be creating collaborations that lead to multi-platform experiences featuring world-class reporting and creative talent.
I’m curious about New York City mayor Zohran Mamdani and his administration and their relationship with NYPR. I know there’s a quarterly interview segment on The Brian Lehrer Show called Ask the Mayor that lets New Yorkers connect directly with him. And I read that this actually originated with former mayor Bill de Blasio. Previous mayor Eric Adams didn’t participate, but now Mamdani is doing it again. So how does his renewed involvement with this program also help increase community support and engagement with New York Public Radio?
I think Ask the Mayor is a great example of rebooting an established tradition that allows us to connect government with its citizens while at the same time allowing WNYC, as a source of independent, award-winning journalism, to hold those in power to account. And WNYC has a long tradition of holding power to account. We plan to continue that. We continue to pursue investigations that lead to policy changes and other positive evolutions. And we really believe that this is a fulfillment of our mission by delivering public service.
Ask Mayor Mamdani on WNYC
I want to also talk about what NYPR does with live performances. You have the Jerome L. Greene Performance Space, also known as the Greene Space, which is really cool. It has a broadcast studio, and it’s a live event space. How does your streaming background come into play there, especially ensuring that these live events run smoothly? I’m assuming this is both an audio and video platform. What are your thoughts on how you make that work? How are you working to help that reach more people and engage more directly with the community in person, as well as through streaming and over the air?
There’s a long tradition of New York Public Radio investing in live events. On the WNYC side, whether it’s Ask the Mayor or community forums, the idea of a call-in show is core to what we do. And that level of interaction with an audience comes very naturally to the organization. At the same time, WQXR, our classical station, has a long history of partnering with arts organizations. We do a series called Carnegie Hall Live. We do concerts in the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park in the summer. And we do have a history of making these news and cultural moments broadly accessible through live, in-person events and live distribution whether that’s on terrestrial radio or streaming.
Carnegie Hall Live on WQXR
So, given that a third of the audience for both WNYC and WQXR is now coming from digital and streaming on audio platforms, it makes sense that we would take our live events series and expand streaming access to them on other platforms. I do believe that live and in-person events are an opportunity for us to serve and reflect the communities of New York City as we’ve traditionally done and as New York’s communities evolve to showcase that evolution to the city and the world.
At the same time, what digital and technology provide us with is the ability to make those live, in-person events available on demand across every platform. So, we invested in research showing that audiences ages 30–49 are most interested in consuming what we do and paying for it, but they want us on the platforms they prioritize. And those platforms range from connected TV to YouTube to short-form video on Instagram and TikTok, etc. So we’re going to be investing in the platforms where our audience wants and needs us to be.
When you’re trying to reach a younger audience who favor short-form content platforms like TikTok, are you trying to work with influencers on social media, having them come to your events, reposting, etc.? Influencer culture is such a powerful promotional force on social media platforms now. How is NYPR involved with that demographic?
Nobody needed me to come into the organization to introduce influencers to what we’re doing. You could say Brian Lehrer and Alison Stewart are both original influencers predating even their alignment with this organization. They walk the walk. They both have a creator mindset, and they’re just two examples of people who are on air for us every day and embody what I think is an entrepreneurial and innovative mindset in how they think and how they approach talking to newsmakers and artists. And I think the audience already responds to that. So, to the extent that creators and influencers are already connecting with what we’re doing, we’re seeing a lot of sharing. But to foster those relationships would be an opportunity for us to pursue. And just as one example, we did an event for Mamdani’s first 100 days in office in the Greene Space.
We invited 100 LaGuardia Community College students to the event, and they came with questions. The event was live, and it’s available on demand. We have a program that’s actually called Radio Rookies, where we develop a talent pipeline for the next generation of journalists. So, we are already interacting with influencers and creators. Everybody we’re interacting with may not call themselves such, but you don’t need the label of an influencer or creator to be influential and to create. And that’s what gets me most excited about the talent within the organization and our ability to develop new talent. We have a long history of doing it, and I think we have a really incredible future ahead of us in continuing to develop new talent and the programming they create and distributing it globally.
Given that some of the lack of public trust in commercial media stems from people feeling it is more biased or less transparent because it is supported by commercial interests, as opposed to the membership-funding model of public media, are there some strategies used by public media that commercial media can look at to help repair that trust and increase their reach and cultural impact?
That’s a deep question. What works for non-profit media is the membership model. People really are investing in trusted journalism and artistic freedom. And I do think that commercial media can learn from nonprofit media by investing in journalism and the freedom of artistic experimentation that takes place in public media.
There is a certain amount of freedom, innovation, and experimentation enabled by not being beholden to quarterly earnings reports. And maybe that’s what you’re thinking about when you’re thinking about what for-profit media can learn from nonprofit media. But I think it’s a mindset that comes from not having to service some of the theater that comes along with quarterly earnings reports. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t strive to be profitable. We do need to be strong financially.
We need to have a growth mindset. We need to build a really strong, stable financial foundation from which to grow and expand. And that’s a really top priority for me. But we do have a bit of freedom that comes with not having to meet a quarterly earnings report deadline to evaluate how we’re doing.
Coming from your background in for-profit media and having to produce those reports and meet those expectations, you’re bringing elements of that expertise to this, which I would imagine would only further bolster that mission.
Well, profitability is freedom. It’s a good thing. When you’re profitable, you can invest in your own future. That’s imperative for public media. I think that this is a cornerstone of American society and democracy. And to sustain its future, we all need to think about profitability, growth, expansion, and investment in the tactics and techniques needed in today’s media environment to connect with audiences.
Not all news organizations in for-profit media companies are profitable. I couldn’t even tell you which ones are and aren’t, but I do know for sure that not all news organizations at for-profit media companies are profitable. So, what I personally found at CBS Interactive, when I was running CBS News Digital, was that our profitability gave us tremendous leverage, not only within the organization but across the industry. It gave us leverage, authority, and power. And I want to make the same thing happen at New York Public Radio. Profitability is power, and it will enable us to invest in an even stronger future.
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