Semafor redefines head of video as an editorial-commercial bridge

Semafor's new head of video, Adam Banicki, is a sign of where premium publisher video is heading: the role now spans editorial and commercial rather than sitting inside the newsroom. Banicki reports directly to co-founder Ben Smith with "a dotted line to Rachel Oppenheim, our chief commercial officer," and his first three months were spent on go-to-market decks, pricing strategy and closing video-tied deals rather than production. "I get to talk to Ben every day about all the things that are going on in the newsroom, but then taking back a lot of that almost like programming to the commercial side and saying, 'What can we do with this? How do we build out a revenue model?'" Banicki said. In October Semafor launches a tech show hosted by editor Reed Albergotti, taking the portfolio to four shows, with a daily news show planned "very soon." The through-line is that video is being built as a commercial product from the start, with editorial buy-in on both sides: "The sales team isn't going to dictate what the newsroom should do. It should always be like, 'the newsroom wants to do this, how do we package it up commercially?'"

The crux

Premium publishers are rebuilding video not as a newsroom afterthought but as a revenue line with editorial and commercial wired together from the first hire, because that is where advertiser demand and audience attention have moved.

Sell-side read

Publishers competing for video budgets should treat video leadership as a commercial role with editorial credibility, not a production manager; the buyers Semafor is closing are buying the packaging, not just the content.

Watch

Whether Semafor's daily news show materialises in Q4 and whether the "reporter-to-reporter" format scales audience without a marquee anchor.