Highmount ascribes some of the company’s recent struggles to an epic medieval scripted series, the Pendragon Cycle, that “did not fully resonate with the core Daily Wire audience,” and “consumed the majority of the 2025 content budget, leaving fewer resources for new programming that could drive subscriber acquisition and marketing.” The Daily Wire spent $50 million on the effort, the memo said.
The restructuring also created a clearer leadership chain of command and clarified the media company’s business priorities. Highmount, an investor in the sports and comedy media company Dude Perfect, envisioned significantly expanding its consumer products division, which already includes Daily Wire-endorsed household goods like Jeremy’s Razors.
“The NYT has done an excellent job of expanding the value of its subscription beyond core news by adding games, cooking, Wirecutter product reviews, The Athletic, and audio content; creating multiple daily touchpoints that justify a premium price and reduce churn,” it said. “Daily Wire has the opportunity to follow a similar playbook for its audience.”
As part of the restructuring, Shapiro agreed to take less podcast money for more equity in the company, and the company planned to hire five “emerging talents” to produce podcasts and social media content. The memo also said that the company will increase its editorial investment to $6.4 million a year from $2.4 million and boost headcount to 67 from 22 as it expands beyond politics into breaking news, investigative journalism, national security, business, sports, health, and opinion.
