Big News

Houston media company acquires CultureMap with plans for expanded digital coverage

David Gow, Audrey Gow at Big Texas Party, horizontal photo

Gow Media CEO David Gow and wife, Audrey, at The Big Texas Party during Super Bowl week in Houston.

Photo by Jacob Power

It's an exciting time at CultureMap as Houston-based Gow Media has acquired the buzzy website that has become the leading digital provider of lifestyle content in Texas over the last eight years.

Founded in 2007, Gow owns two Houston sports stations (ESPN 97.5 FM and SB Nation 1560 AM stations) as well as one of the nation's largest sports radio networks, SB Nation Radio, which it runs in partnership with SB Nation.com. SB Nation Radio provides 24/7 sports shows and sports updates to over 500 affiliate radio stations across the country, Sirius Satellite Radio, and mobile and digital partners.

CultureMap has attracted a loyal following for its coverage of food, fashion, society, real estate, arts and entertainment, and other lifestyle topics in five Texas cities. Launched in Houston in 2009, CultureMap expanded to Austin in 2011 and Dallas in 2012. Sites in Fort Worth and San Antonio were added in 2015.

The combination creates a multi-platform media company reaching nearly 8 million people monthly, making it what is believed to be the largest Houston-owned media company headquartered in the city.

"It's a great move for both companies," said David Gow, CEO of Gow Media. "It's a chance to create a large media company and offer more to our existing audience and advertisers. The combination of Gow Media assets and CultureMap creates one of the largest media companies based in Texas."

CultureMap will continue to offer premier lifestyle coverage in all of its Texas markets. "We recognize the brand has a strong following that is passionately engaged and we want to do everything we can to preserve that connection," Gow said. “We plan to share content, cross-promote, create bigger events, and provide larger scale packages for advertisers. The opportunities are exciting."

The company plans to invest in software upgrades to enhance the user experience on CultureMap and Gow hinted that sports will return to the mix on the site. "There's a strong intersection between sports and lifestyle content and we definitely see an opportunity to introduce sports content to the CultureMap reader," he said.

The two media companies worked together to host The Big Texas Party during Super Bowl week in Houston. It drew more than 1,500 guests, including Mayor Sylvester Turner and a number of top sports stars, and was generally recognized as one of the week's top parties.

In planning and executing the party over the past year, the teams from both companies found numerous advantages in consolidation into one entity. "Over time, it became apparent that we could accomplish more together than we could operating independently," said CultureMap CEO Robert Bennett.

CultureMap network marketing director Jessica Baldwin has been named vice president of marketing and events at Gow Media. “The Big Texas Party was the first of many events in which we will combine the power of sports and lifestyle content," she said.

Gow Media, LLC is backed by a private investment group with significant experience in media ownership. The investor group includes Steve Webster, co-manager and co-CEO of Avista Capital; Patrick Dugan, vice president and general counsel of Nortex; and Gow.

texas

Cashing In

Texas cashes in among top-10 best U.S. state economies in 2026 report

Outline map of texas with transparent american dollar banknotes

Getty Images

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A new study gauging the success or decline in economic performance in every state has revealed Texas' economy remains stable in 2026 after it dropped out of the top five to No. 8 last year.

Texas boasts the No. 8 best state economy in the U.S. this year, according to WalletHub's annual "Best & Worst State Economies" report. The personal finance website's analysts ranked all 50 states and the District of Columbia across 28 relevant metrics to measure each state's economic activity and health status, and its "innovation potential."

Notably, Texas leads the nation for the most exports per capita in the U.S. in a five-way tie with Louisiana, Kentucky, North Dakota, and Indiana. Across the study's three main categories, Texas ranked highly for its economic activity (No. 7) and economic health (No. 11), and the state's "innovation potential" rank is the 24th best in the nation.

This is how WalletHub ranked Texas' economic performance, where No. 1 is considered the best and No. 25 is considered average:

No. 6 – Change in non-farm payrolls
No. 8 – Change in GDP
No. 8 – Startup activity
No. 11 – Annual median household income
No. 18 – Government surplus/deficit per capita
No. 21 – Percentage of jobs in high-tech industries
No. 30 – Unemployment rate

WalletHub previously ranked Texas one of the top three states to start a business in 2026, with Houston earning its own entrepreneurial acclaim in separate rankings of the best big cities for new businesses and for starting a career.

"U.S. economic growth depends heavily on the performance of individual states, and some contribute more than others," the report's author wrote. "For example, California, Texas, New York and Florida have economies so large that if they were countries, they would rank in the top 20 in the world."

The five states with the worst state economies in 2026 are Rhode Island (No. 47), Maine (No. 48), Louisana (No. 49), Kentucky (No. 50), and West Virginia (No. 51).

The top 10 best state economies for 2026 are:

No. 1 – Massachusetts
No. 2 – Washington
No. 3 – Utah
No. 4 – California
No. 5 – Delaware
No. 6 – North Carolina
No. 7 – New York
No. 8 – Texas
No. 9 – Colorado
No. 10 – Florida

wallethub texas innovation economy