Rob Wheeler, till not too long ago the chief advertising and marketing officer of GroupM, launched a brand new media enterprise on Tuesday referred to as At The Second (ATM).

The bootstrapped start-up will cowl the intersection of promoting, expertise, and media—the acronym ATM additionally refers to its scope of protection—though it is not going to be a conventional journalistic enterprise. 

As a substitute, the video-centric outlet will purpose to occupy a center floor between conventional journalism and model advertising and marketing, spotlighting the traits, figures, and storylines driving the promoting trade.

“I wished to make one thing whose content material is fascinating however that can also be collaborative with corporations,” Wheeler mentioned. “I feel individuals will be capable to be taught from this, and I feel we may also help champion the successes of the trade.”

Media veteran and former colleague Christine Rader would be the solely different full-time worker, though ATM can be supported by a solid of freelance manufacturing workers. Wheeler declined to supply monetary projections or additional touch upon industrial particulars for the operation.

The enterprise is the newest in a rising sequence of media startups that purpose to parlay the experience and relationships of their founders into light-weight, sustainable operations. 

Much like Beet TV or Marketecture, ATM doesn’t purpose to interrupt tales or push for accountability; as an alternative, it affords a thought management platform for trade consultants to share their views and analyses. In giving their founders an impartial discussion board for broadcasting content material, these retailers mirror the broader development of solo entrepreneurship that’s reshaping the information media panorama.

A concentrate on video and newsletters

ATM will focus totally on video, which is able to dwell as 4 totally different franchises at first.

Second Makers will characteristic one-on-one interviews with trade figures talking on to the digicam. Collective Moments will showcase roundtable discussions which were edited for conciseness. 

Inside Moments, a longer-form manufacturing, will make use of B-roll footage and discover how a product has come to life. And Moments That Matter will spotlight main trade occasions, just like the upfronts or Cannes Lions, within the type of a brief sizzle reel.

The writer will even have a e-newsletter, referred to as Your ATM Withdrawal, accessible at launch, which is able to publish two to 3 occasions every week, based on Wheeler. 


The publisher will focus primarily on video content, launching with a slate of four original series that it will distribute across social media.