How CNBC is building its membership programs

Grace Wu of Penn Innovators in Business interviewed Sonie Osagie, CNBC director of strategic content & news partnerships, about her job.

Here is an excerpt:

Tell us about your current career.

“I am currently at CNBC in a strategy and operations role that is focused on emerging businesses and platforms. My portfolio consists of two main areas: 1) content strategy for audio; specifically, I oversee the production of our podcasts at CNBC and launches of new series. 2) Business operations and strategy for CNBC Councils, which is one of our subscription businesses. These are membership programs that we’ve created for C-level executives. We have a network for chief technology officers and chief information officers–leaders that are thinking about digital transformation at their companies. We also have a second [network] that we built this year for chief human resources officers and chief diversity and inclusion officers, which focuses on employee engagement, human capital, the role of human resources. Within those areas, I’m responsible for business plan development and operational execution. Before we launched those new councils, we asked ourselves:

1. How do we monetize them?
2. What does the product itself look like?
3. What’s the experience for someone who pays for a membership?
4. What is our go-to market strategy and plan?
5. What’s our pricing plan?
6. What are competitors doing in a similar space?

In my day-to-day role, my focus is on how to monetize and grow these emerging revenue streams into viable businesses.”