Technology360

Some Online Shows Could Go Subscription-Only

Brad Stone and Brian Stelter write:

... The free video Web site Hulu, a joint venture of NBC Universal and the News Corporation, counted 35 million unique viewers in February — only a fraction of the hundreds of millions who watch TV every month, but a 42 percent jump from January, according to comScore. The ratings for some programs, like “Lost” on ABC, would rise as much as 25 percent if online views were included, according to the ratings service Nielsen.  ¶ Nevertheless, television executives are developing a different model in which only subscribers to traditional cable and satellite services would be able to access the full breadth of shows online. ...

Link:  New York Times.  Thanks to Stephen Hill for the link.  --Dennis

The end of the free lunch--again

Thanks to Stephen Hill for pointing me to this unsigned opinion piece in The Economist.  The writer says few companies can sustain themselves with revenues from internet advertising:

... Now reality is reasserting itself once more, with familiar results. The number of companies that can be sustained by revenues from internet advertising turns out to be much smaller than many people thought, and Silicon Valley seems to be entering another “nuclear winter” ...

Link:  The Economist.  --Dennis

Comments are back

For reasons I still don't understand after a lot of troubleshooting, the comments function on this blog ceased to work late last fall.  I've been using the "advanced templates" version of TypePad to enable some sidebar features that I couldn't do otherwise.  However, I've now reverted to their standard template.  That's restored the comments function, but I've lost some other things, so will keep working on it.  --Dennis

Letting go of our expected future

Bruce Theriault, SVP of Radio at the Corp. for Public Broadcasting, had a thoughtful article in a recent issue of Current, that's now online and important reading for both radio and television pubcasters.  He writes:

... In a time of disruptive change, as management
consultant Douglas Berger has noted, “the expected future ceases to exist.” It is a time marked by disequilibrium and instability. It is a time when some players succeed and others go under. It can be a time of fear and retrenchment. It can also be a time of transformative innovation. But there should be no doubt: We are in the midst of irreversible change in our expected future. ...

Link:  Current HTML PDF.  --Dennis

The cunning genius of the public radio fundraising drive

June Thomas has a great article listing ten effective techniques for public radio membership fundraising, complete with audio examples.  Link:  Slate.  Thanks to Vivian Schiller, Alicia Shepard, and Todd Mundt for the link.  --Dennis