“Profitable, Sustainable” Local News. From eBay?
Yesterday I wrote that local stations need to be thinking about online upstarts that could soon pose a serious threat to local TV's longtime dominance.  I suggested a hypothetical Google Local News.  Okay, I was a touch off. I should've said eBay. Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay writes on his blog today that he's starting [...]

The News Consumer is King. Seriously.
Here's the thing, you local newsers:  you ain't all that anymore.  Those days have gone into the proverbial history books.  And if you don't start accepting this fact, you'll be in the history books as well. As Ken Auletta wrote in a chapter that was cut from his new book on Google, "consumers are no longer [...]

Online Branding: Kill Your Call Letters?
Michael Malone at Broadcasting and Cable has an interesting quote from Steve Safran at AR&D regarding local television websites and the use of call letters in the URL:  "By using your call letters, you're automatically limiting yourself to those who follow your newscasts," Safran said.  "Why not open it up, make it more inclusive and [...]

NBC’s “Adventurous” New Take on Local News: Not Local, Not News
I've argued NBC has an interest in local news, and that NBC may have an interest in destroying local televisions stations with an elaborate, Bond villain style effort involving local "NBC" branded news websites (at times even competing with non O&O NBC affiliates) and through the we'll-kill-your-late-local-news-if-we-have-to-ruin-primetime-television-to-do-it plan to unleash Jay Leno on NBC stations [...]

How Can We Help You?
Over the last week, I've attended two lively and inspiring gatherings: a meeting of the Navigating Change Media Think Tank in Connecticut, and the New Business Models for (Local) News Hyper Camp at CUNY's Graduate School of Journalism. In both places, I heard the same question: "how can we help you?" There is [...]