The Daily Wire has a new leader, and Mike Richards believes the company has found its focus. Richards spent nearly three decades in linear television before he joined the conservative media company.
Now, as CEO, he’s betting on podcasts, editorial and scripted entertainment.
“I always looked at The Daily Wire as being at the forefront of what was coming next,” said Richards. “I was in regular linear television, syndicated television, which is a great business. It’s been very profitable for a very long time. It’s also obviously on the decline. I knew that almost 19 years ago, when I took over The Price Is Right. I can remember thinking, ‘I wonder how long CBS will stay in daytime.’ Well, it’s great news. They’ve stayed in daytime a very long time, and that’s been very successful for them. But it was already on my mind that this was a declining medium.”
Richards built his career producing some of television’s most recognizable programs. He served as executive producer of Let’s Make a Deal, The Price Is Right, Jeopardy!, Wheel of Fortune and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Then he joined The Daily Wire in 2025 as Chief Content Officer. That move followed the exit of former co-CEO and co-founder Jeremy Boreing.
In May, the company elevated him to CEO after Caleb Robinson’s exit.
Why Richards Chose The Daily Wire
Richards saw an opening that television couldn’t offer. Specifically, he liked how the company approached new platforms. As a result, the move felt like a natural next step.
“They were at the forefront of podcasts and the Facebook business,” Richards said. “They were making editorial and impacting the conversation that way. And they were using social media and building a subscriber base. And I was like, ‘This is the greatest sandbox in the world.’ If you’re a creative person who likes running shows and businesses, this is the ultimate place to land. There’s no one else that does what we do.”
Still, the shift required real adjustment. Richards says about 70% of his skills carried over. The rest meant learning platform mechanics from scratch.
“I felt like 70% of my skills were transferable to this world, and 30% was an incredibly steep learning curve,” said Richards. “That meant really digging into how the YouTube algorithm works and RSS feeds. But one thing’s refreshing as someone who grew up in linear TV. I get data instantaneously. I used to have to wait seven days to get the worst reporting of all time on how something performed. And if eight people with a Nielsen box decided not to turn on their TV, you were a catastrophe.”
A Long Gap and a Hollywood Playbook
However, Richards faced a different problem once he settled in. The Daily Wire hadn’t released major content for a long time. Consequently, the audience was harder to read.
“The biggest challenge for us was that we hadn’t put anything out in a very long time,” The Daily Wire CEO shared. “If you haven’t put out content, it’s really hard to know your audience. The last big thing that we put out that was right over the target was Am I Racist? That was two years ago. The world couldn’t be more different. We didn’t know what we didn’t know. If you have that long of a break, you don’t have a great feeling for where the audience is. You don’t have anything to base it on, good or bad.”
That uncertainty pushed Richards toward instinct. Therefore, he looked to a proven title. The Daily Wire released Run Hide Fight Infidels as a follow-up to the original Run Hide Fight.
“I’m from Hollywood,” Richards said. “You don’t ignore the most successful piece of scripted entertainment on the platform. You at least think about doing a sequel. Run Hide Fight Infidels is on pace to be the most successful scripted content we’ve ever done. I think we’re four weeks into having released it. It’s doing three times as much business as the original Run Hide Fight did in its first four weeks. If you have a great show or a great movie, you might want to look at why it succeeded. Then you see if you can’t draft off that success.”
A Narrower Focus
Looking ahead, Richards wants The Daily Wire to narrow its approach. The company launched 11 years ago to shape culture through entertainment. It also set out to influence politics through editorial and shape thinking through podcasts. Richards says those three pillars now anchor his strategy.
“So I’m focused on those three things,” said Richards. “That’s it. I’m going right back to a much more focused approach to the business. You’ll see that our editorial has continued to expand. We made a promise that we would bet on that. Everyone else is getting out of that business, trying to spend less and thinning the ranks. We’re breaking news stories. Luke Rosiak is changing the laws. We’re exposing fraud.”
Meanwhile, Richards plans to concentrate on the core shows. Those include programs from Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Isabel Brown and Matt Fradd.
Growth Ahead
In addition, Richards isn’t slowing down on new launches. He also sees film as a major growth driver.
“We’re going to keep launching some of these other shows,” Richards said. “We’ve launched, I think, five shows in the last five months. That’s a pretty intense clip for this place, and we’re not going to slow down. If you stay really focused on those three things, you put out entertainment products that shape the conversation. That’s what we did with Run Hide Fight Infidels, and we’re going to do it again with our next movie. We’re also making another movie right now. You should check the news in Montana. People aren’t thrilled with the movie we’re making there. That one comes out in February. The fact that people are so mad about it tells you everything you need to know as to why we should be making it.”
Finally, Richards expects more growth. He expects to add big-name talent over the next six months. Documentaries and scripted projects are also on the way.
“I really do love this business,” said Richards. “It is so unique. There is no one else doing this. We are one of one. We’re razor-focused right now, and I think that’s why we’re having this moment of growth and success. There’s tangible excitement in this building about where we’re headed. We’re back to doing the thing we should be doing. And we’re doing it at the highest level, like only this place can do.”
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