Tag Archives: local advertising

FT.com: ‘There will be a transition to people paying for the internet,’ says Liberty Media chairman

A couple of things extremely pertinent to the paid content debate in a ‘view from the top’ interview on FT.com.

It’s with Liberty Media chairman, John Malone, described by the FT’s Richard Milne as ‘one of the most powerful figures in the media world’. He controls a ‘sprawling empire of assets’ including  DirecTV, the Discovery Channel, QVC, the Atlanta Braves baseball team and a company focused on Cable TV, Liberty Global.

Two extracts from the interview:

“How bad is the outlook for the media industry right now?”

“The media has lots of different elements in it. Probably at the bottom would be local, because local advertising has been the most adversely affected. Newsprint is probably the most damaged media going forward. Cable television has been OK. It continues to grow, a little slower than we’d like. The broadcast networks are getting beaten up, but not as bad on their national side as on their local side (…)”

and:

A big debate in media is: can you get consumers to pay for online content?

“There will be a transition to people paying for [the] internet. Unfortunately, a lot of the people promoting the internet have other monetisation theories, such as search, which is ‘free’ to the consumer. Believe me, it’s not free to the retailer. The real question is: can you get people to pay for content on the internet? That will happen over time. If you’re a newspaper publisher and you’re giving information free on the internet and charging a subscription fee [for the paper], I don’t understand the logic.”

Full interview at this link…

And this:

“Long or short? Newspapers? Short James Murdoch? Long Hedge fund regulation? Long Share prices? Neutral The European economy? Short Nicolas Sarkozy? Long Ben Bernanke? Long Barack Obama’s healthcare plan? Disaster – short Twitter? Neutral Barry Diller? Long.”

Traffic success for AP’s mobile news network

The Associated Press‘ mobile news network – launched by the agency in May – attracted 16 million page views in August, according to a report from MediaBistro.com.

The post states that 95 per cent of traffic to the network is generated by iPhone and iPod touch users.

The network, which features national news from the AP and local content from regional news organisations, now boasts 948 partners.

Local advertising on the service is sold by the news organisations, in addition to national advertising from networks, with any revenues split between news providers and ad sellers

Associated Press launches story and picture service for mobiles

The Associated Press (AP) is to launch a news and picture service for mobiles, as part of plans to help struggling newspapers.

The Mobile News Network, which is expected to start in the summer, will carry local news stories and images from participating newspapers and national news supplied by the AP.

Local advertising on the service will be sold by the newspapers in addition to national advertising from networks with an equal revenue share between news providers and ad sellers, a release from the AP said.

It is currently being tested by several newspaper companies including Hearst Corp. and McLatchy Co. and a similar product for video content is also being developed.

The agency also announced a reduction in fees in 2009, as part of widespread changes within the organisation’s price structure.

The AP had previously announced expected savings of £7 million if members implemented a digital tagging programme for news stories for search purposes.

The effect of a new pricing mechanism – in which breaking news content becomes the core product with extras added at a premium rate – is also likely to have an effect next year, with potential savings of $14 million for AP newspaper members.

In addition to the advertising revenue share plan on its mobile service, AP said it will also end fees for its graphics-based news service Money & Markets and provide unlimited access to archives for photo subscribers next year.

OJR: Interview with chief news officer of hyperlocal news site OurTown

George Blake, chief news officer of hyper-local news service OurTown, says editors of the sites can earn up to $60,000 (£30,306).

Content on the network of 70,000 websites is provided by the local editors and through content deals.

As such revenue from local advertising on a site is shared with its editor.

“We will continue to sell the national ads, which we will split with the local editor, but the local editor retains all revenue generated by local ads after paying a monthly fee to the company for ad serving,” Blake explains.

But will this model be enough to lure and retain local editors and help OurTown emulate the success of competitors like Topix?

Local editors, who oversee the content of their sites, keep almost all of their local ad revenue and a good local editor can make between $45,000 and $60,000 each year once they have built up a regular clientele in their area.

AP unveils tool to allow affiliates to upload news to its online video network

The Associated Press has launched a new tool for affiliate news sites to upload to its online video network and make money on their own content.

Featuring exclusive AP content, the AP’s Online Video Network serves some 1,900 newspaper, television and radio sites nationwide. AP affiliates can now control a “local” tab within their player and fill it with their own video using a web-based uploading tool developed by Microsoft.

Affiliates have the option of selling local advertising against the content they upload, or allowing Microsoft to oversee the process.

Media Post reported.