Strong first half of financial year reported as chairman John Paton steps down
London, 19 June 2026 – Independent Media today reports an exceptionally strong first half
of the financial year as it announces that AI projects now contribute 10 per cent of all
revenue.
The company has seen a surge in the growth of AI and Studio – its creator and talent-led
video and podcast business – with both AI and Studio revenues set to grow by over 60 per
cent year-on-year.
Its four growth pillars of the business, which also include Ecommerce and US expansion,
now represent more than 60 per cent of all company revenue. The remarkable growth rates
come before Independent Media starts on a new strategic investment programme to
accelerate its transformation.
The results reflect the focus and commitment placed on these areas of the business by
Christian Broughton, its Chief Executive, and John Paton, its chairman who will be stepping
down on 30th September after seven years, while Christian continues in his role as CEO.
Under their leadership, the company has doubled its revenue – a feat unrivalled across the
industry – and experienced nearly a decade of unprecedented growth, with Independent
Media achieving record revenue of £53.2m in its most recent full-year accounts (2024). This
was an increase of £7.1m (15%), and an operating profit of £3.2m. Results for 2025, which
show further increases, will be published soon. Independent Media has achieved consistent
revenue growth of 13% CAGR since the start of John Paton’s Chairmanship in 2019.
At a time when many media companies are facing considerable challenges, this year marks
its 10 th consecutive year of growth and profit since The Independent closed its print
operations, with the figures for the first half of this year indicating the upward trajectory is set
to continue.
Earlier this month, Chris Anthony was appointed as President, North America, to oversee
Independent Media's North American business. He will report to Christian Broughton as they
implement plans to drive revenue growth in the region.
In the UK, the company reached a partnership agreement in March this year to take on the
digital operations of The Standard to further widen its global reach.
Working closely with Christian, John Paton has been a staunch supporter of the digital
transformation that saw Independent Media’s stable of UK brands incorporate BuzzFeed,
Tasty and HuffPost in a landmark deal made in 2024.
This created a multi-brand network with a combined audience totalling half of all British
consumers, with the global reach now on average 650 million users each month, and 1.1
billion content views worldwide across all brands and platforms.
Independent Studio was only created last year, but it is already achieving impressive results
with the growth driven high-calibre, creator-led content. In The Room broke into the top 10 of
all UK current affairs podcasts after only 12 episodes, and ACFC is the UK's fastest-growing
football analysis YouTube channel, with over 200,000 subscribers.
Another recently launched service, Bulletin, which provides an AI-enabled news summary,
has played a major role in driving the financial contribution of AI to the business.
Christian Broughton, Chief Executive of Independent Digital News Media, added:
“John’s commercial nous, business acumen and wise counsel have been invaluable as
we’ve struck major partnerships, grown our global audience and strengthened our financial
position.
“Innovation and quality journalism have been at the heart of what we’ve overseen together
and I’m excited by the opportunities we have identified to continue our growth, doubling
down on the core pillars of the strategy that John and I have worked on together. I would
like to thank him for his support, guidance and above all, friendship over the past seven
years.”
John Paton, outgoing Chairman of Independent Digital News Media, said: “I want to
thank Christian for his innovation and the dedication and the energy he has brought to
running The Independent. Its success largely lies with him and the team. I want to thank the
shareholders for the opportunity. It’s been an honour.”
