Amazon's Kindle DX, is here to save the day!

I saw a small blurb in the paper last week. It was just a note to explain a big layoff of 192 positions at the Union Tribune. The move came three days after the newspaper’s sale to Platinum Equity of Beverly Hills. A company spokesperson said, “These are tough times for the entire newspaper industry, and a time of transition for the U.T.” Didn’t they trim positions last year, and year before?

This practice is repeated from town to town across the country. Newspapers are reaching the end of their rope. The weekday edition of the UT is a thin cousin of its predecessor from years past. Entire sections like the business or want ads are a just couple pages long. Other papers like the Rocky Mountain News simply closed up shop. Not to worry, Amazon to the rescue! The online book-seller is launching its newest-e-reader. The devices are looking like newspapers last best hope. Imagine, a gadget that could motivate users to pay for newspaper subscriptions.

The e-reader is about 10 inches tall, and a third of an inch thick, and costs $500. Amazon.com Inc.s Kindle DX includes a bigger screen and PD reader. The Seattle based company says it’s forged a partnership with the Washington Post, and New York Times. Both companies would reward subscribers with discounted Kindles if they sign up for the newspapers. The L.A. Times writes “the partnership could be considered a bid by the newspapers to get readers to begin paying for content again, after seeing many of their readers migrate online and cancel their subscriptions.” Amazon pays for the wireless connectivity, so buyers don’t have to buy separate cell, or broadband service. The display monitor mimics the experience of reading print on paper. It’s reported the device is more portable than laptops allowing users to tote them anywhere they’d carry a regular newspaper.

The New York Times, and Washington Post say they’re still working on details of their rebate program to subscribers who purchase a Kindle, and wouldn’t yet specify the amount of the discount. The advantages for newspapers are obvious. They save on printing, and delivery costs, and can reach readers outside the newspapers’ delivery areas. The number 1 cost for newspapers is newsprint, and distribution expenses. Eventually, newspapers hope to run ads on the e-book. If so newspapers could be wind up charging print ad rates on the e-reader. Publishers complain that online advertising doesn’t command very high prices.

I’m old school, I like the feel of a newspaper in my hands. The illusion of actually manipulating pages on a screen sounds interesting. Now if they can only master e-readers that will line the birdcage, or provide a wrap for fish.

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Viewers have the POWER!

Viewers have the Power! We've always known viewers cast a vote simply by pressing a button on the remote control. TV shows live, and die by the choices viewers make. This time I'm asking for opinions, or a show of hands. It relates to news out of Chicago, but impacts San Diego.

Starting soon four news operations in Chicago will start sharing video. It works like this. TV stations will start pooling resources to cover press conferences, and scheduled news events. In news lingo it's called "a pool feed." One photographer will shoot an event, and share it with the NBC, CBS, Fox, and CW stations in the market. That's right the very same pictures on all four stations.

The move is meant to save money by reducing staff. It maybe unrelated, but the Fox station in Chicago just laid off some employees. The argument from the four stations is, "one for all, all for one." Why should four different cameras show up for a scheduled event? (they say breaking news, and major stories would not be affected by this agreement, and would remain independent)

This was un-thinkable years ago. Every outlet in a city wanted to put thier mark, or voice on each news event. Blame it on the recession, and weak ad sales. These Chicago stations, or "The Four Musketeers," are going ahead with the project. However we have one dissenter.

WLS, the ABC affiliate in Chicago doesn't want to enter into the partnership. That station's management wants to remain a solid independent voice in that market. The news director at WLS says "individual photography is essential for telling a complete story." My question is, "are we headed into an era of pre-fab cookie-cutter news?" Many folks say we are already there.

San Diego stations are sharing helicopter video. Sure, why do we need five choppers up in the sky taking the same traffic shot. Channel 10 and 6 in town are already working on a video sharing agreement much like the one in Chicago. Its not uncommon for stations to share some pictures, but they're actually coordinating pool coverage on press conferences, and scheduled events.

All of this raises some big questions for viewers. Are citizens best served by this agreement? How can we guarantee an independent voice in news coverage? Many vieweers say all local newscasts look-a-like. Now the video sharing idea proves it, and makes sure you'll see the exact same video on every station. I believe viewers want stories that stand apart. They want news that is different in content, and scope from other local channels, news that's customized for them.

Some says that unless viewers care the practice will grow. I believe that viewers still hold the power, and can vote by simply selecting the news they want to watch. They can also voice an opinion on this blog.

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The Hulu effect

42 million viewers a month and growing! Disney-ABC looked at that audience, and jumped in as partners of Hulu.com. That's the popular web-tv site running hit shows from NBC, and FOX. The alphabet network will soon start supplying shows like "Desperate Housewives," "Lost," and "Jimmy Kimmel Live." Now all 3 networks own a share of Hulu, CBS is the lone hold-out.

The move is being hailed as a major step by content users, or people who watch prime shows via computers, or on devices like the iphone. The consumer wins because he, or she can watch these shows (re-runs) free anytime, anywhere. That's right they don't need broadcast TV, or Cable to tune in. Ooooppps... what's going to happen to our local TV channels who contract to run prime network shows?  Stations like KNSD-NBC 7/39, KMB TV-8, KGTV-10, and KSWB FOX-5 own the rights to first-run primetime shows, and some shows on syndication within the market. However it doesn't take a mind reader to see where this is  going.

The networks could take their business to Hulu, or sites like it, and by-pass traditional TV. The move could be disastrous for local affiliates that are powerless to fight back. For instance WHDH TV in Boston picked a fight with NBC recently, and lost. The NBC affiliate wanted to air an hour of prime news at 10pm, and drop the netowrk's Jay Leno show. (NBC is running Leno on primetime starting this fall) WHDH is afraid that Leno's new show will fail in primetime. and wanted to cut the show from its local schedule. NBC threatened to pull it's affiliation, and give it to another Boston station, thus forcing WHDH to submit to NBC's will.

An interesting fight is developing because if Leno's show tanks, local stations can't afford a weak lead-in to their 11pm news. Local affiliates are already on the ropes when you consider the economy, weak ad sales, and low ratings. I can't blame WHDH for it's actions they were vunerable. It seems they're powerless to stand up to the big networks, and now they have Hulu.com to contend with.

I feel local stations will be around for awhile. A local station's bigesst asset is still news, local programming, and local involvement. Many stations like Independent KUSI are a model for this. The challenge is local stations will have to work harder for viewers, local business, and respect. Instead of one independent, there may be 3 or 4 local independent stations pushing local news. The consumer might wind up to be the big winner here. Stations are already promoting themselves as hyper-local, meaning they are focusing on your community. The big question is will they start providing the kind of news you want, the kind of news you need, and the kind of in-depth quallity you deserve.

 

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Reason for Hope

In a room full of 150 students I asked the question, "how many of you want a job?" A room full of hands went up. It was career day at Cal State Long Beach. I joined other professionals from Southern California on a panel at CSULB's career day. The day long event was typical of other career day events in the past with one big exception. We are in a recession, and traditional print, and brodcast jobs are in short supply. Students wanted to get our insights, and perhaps quell their fears.

Kids have reason to be concerned. Graduation day is a month away, and I wish I had jobs for all of them. The panel of experts which included Robert Suro of USC's Annenberg School for Communication, and Dr. Ricahrd Marcus director of International Studies at CSULB said the traditional business model in media has drastically changed. The problem is we don't fully know what the future holds. That's enough to scare aspiring journalists away from college majors in journalism. However, people learn to adapt.

The talk quickly turned to seeking solutions, and experimenting with new ways of approaching a career in media. I love kids, they have great ideas, and already see the world quite differently from the vision we hold. The generational divide is huge when you consider I still love opening a newspaper, and reading it, versus a young person who surfs for news items on their i-pod. Their vision can spearhead the change we need, or inspire a hybrid adaptation of news, and the internet.

I keep explaining, "this is our mission at New Media Rights." This is a new blog, I need to keep putting that out there. Change is happening now, are we changing the way we work? If not circumstances will force change upon us. Just this week I was reading that companies like Meredith posted a 14 percent drop in revenues. That's followed by a revenue drop at Mcgraw Hill, and Fisher of about 25 percent.

There is reason for hope. I spotted worried faces, but also a bit of confidence. Who knows, they might be the ones who lead us to a new business model, or a new way of publishing the news that people want. Many different concepts were examined at the career day event. Topics like "backpack journishts," and "hyper-local reporting." Something told me these students have the passion to do what it takes to succeed.

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"Brother can you spare a Bail-out"

This is a case of Good News, and Bad News. A survey reported that the amount of news time on local TV increased. The BAD news, there's a declline in TV news jobs. More than 50 percent of local stations around the country said they laid off workers in the past year. 1200 journalists were laid off in 2008.

What can a local station do but tell remaining workers they have to do much more with much less. San Diego news jobs have taken a hit, some stations are on their 2nd or 3rd round of layoffs. Nationally the percentage of TV jobs lost was greater than the decline in overall U.S. employment. Reporters were hit the hardest with a 13 percent decline followed by Anchors at 11.5 percent. This pattern is seen in most on-air jobs, personalities you tune to for the weather, sports, and news. The irony is a typical station added a half-hour of local news per weekday. The driving force is drop in viewship, and a bigger drop in ad revenues.

This survey was conducted by the RTNDA, (Radio Television News Directors Assn.) and Hofstra University. The study was a random sampling of stations during the last quarter of 2008. Fast forward to today. I've been talking to former co-workers, and reading the trades. So far 2009 is worse. Except not only are we loosing jobs, but news air-time. Channel 6 in town has cut it's hour long 10pm news to 30 minutes. Others who considered adding news at 4pm have abandoned that idea.

When was the last time you tuned into a local newscast? Did you feel informed? Were the issues you care about represented? Was the coverage a fair snapshot of your community, and the events of the day? We need to keep asking these questions of our local media. They make a living asking tough question from the general public, and businesses. We should hold media companies accountable too. Here at New Media Rights we represent your views, and concerns, and want to hear from you. 

Perhaps the problem can be found inside Local TV editorial meetings. News managers love "breaking news," even if its not anything big, or breaking. Producers tend to over use the term "BREAKING." I'm referring to minor auto accidents, isolated fires, or shootings. Street crime that's become the bread and butter of local news. Many times these stories wind up taking up way too much air time. The important local stories are sometimes ignored because they're too hard to cover, they're time consuming, or seen as boring. Many managers are breaking free from the old models used in the 70's  80's, and 90's.  

I'm beginning to see stations airing top stories on topics related to our financial, political, or social lives. Perhaps Richard Florida said it best in a past blog "this recession is the great reset." Meaning local stations are forced to change the way they operate, and the way they relate to viewers. One Tampa Florida station is runnig a segment in their late news called "Lighting Round." Anchors, and experts debate a local issue, much like counterparts on MSNBC, or Fox news channel discuss a national issue. Another station WTTG in D.C. airs "The five things you ought to know before you go to bed." It concerns the next day's planned events in the communtiy, or some safety concerns you should be aware of, or a real important news issue you should keep in mind. I'd tune in for that.    

 

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Mobil TV, U-Reporters, and the Great Reset.

The NAB, National Association of Broadcasters convention is taking place this week in Las Vegas. It's an opportunity for industry people from TV, Radio, Production, and the Internet to come together. The meeting draws about 100,000 attendees, and is one of the largest annual events for Las Vegas.

Here's what's happening at the conference. Fox News said it would reach into MySpace for Citizen Journalists. Reports from the public would be featured on its broadcasts, like Fox News Channel, and perhaps local affiliates in a couple of hundred cities across america. We have our own KSBW Fox-5 in San Diego. Basically Fox would allow what they call U-reporters from MySpace the opportunity to upload reports for the broadcast world to see.

Broadcasters in the Washington D.C. area will soon debut Free Mobil Digital TV. This would be a service utilizing a broadcaster's multiple digital signals over the air. The service will target viewers who want to get their programing over portable mobile devices. The only problem is those devices aren't available yet, but companies like Dell are working on providing them by September of this year. This is a service that would compete with online sites like hulu.com, and others to provide shows like Oprah and The Simpsons. Broadcasters want to utilize their digital signals to generate money in what's been a dismal advertising market.

Another session dealt with the marriage of TV, and the web. TV stations are exploring ways of utilizing the station's web news site to serve the public, and make money. Some experts say they haven't found a sure shot way of making much money so far. Most people expect to receive content for free, and some intenet sites carry very little original news content. Most of it is aired first over the air then repeated on the web. Several Broadcasters are re-thinking that model. Stations are branding themselves as "content providers." Many are debuting stories first on the web, and not waiting for audiences to make an appointment of tuning into a 5pm newscast. Apparently old media has been playing catch-up for years. Their main competitors are web-based news content sites.  Check this one out, now anyone can report from anywhere.

Perhaps one of the bright points in the conference was a talk from the author of "The Rise o the Creative Class." Richard Florida urged broadcasters at the NAB to view the upheaval in the economy as an opportunity. Florida referred to the current recession as, "the greates reset," which he said capatures the mood of the times. It was pointed out that "We are living through the greatest economic transformation in human history," Richard Florida called for broadcasters to think of ways to modernize their businesses.

All of this points to a transformation. We're right in the cusp of that transformation right now. This is the mission of New Media Rights. We are not only providing examples of innovations in the industry, but exploring ways to invent futture business models for media, and content providers. All of this is meant to serve the San Diego market, and beyond. I just received an email of yet another sight dedicated to the same thing.  The Knight foundation is exploring ways to refine ideas that will contibute to a better future for media. The best ideas come from you, I'd like to hear from you. Where do you think we should be headed, how can the media best respond to your needs?

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Deja vu, hey isn't that the same news story I saw yesterday.

Just like a Saturday Night Live "News Update" skit, people continue to poke fun of the old news formats, and news production in general. The local news business model we've known for years is broken. The formats have been around for more than 40 years. Viewers have finally realized some of the news reports aren't relevant to their lives.

TV stations have been wrestlling with this issue for years. Now economic factors are guiding those station to change, or go out of business. Simply stated the news audience is leaving in droves, and can you blame them. I was reading parts of a study conducted by Tivo. The company that owns the program recording box found that almost 60 percnet of the news stories on the morning programs are repeat stories. Almost 50 percent of all crime stories are re-broadcast in later segments. The term "Late Breaking, and Live" doesn't apply in some newscasts like the morning, or mid-day programs. From time to time "Live" updates related to a story are offered, but that takes time, and resources, and yes money.

Airing left-overs has been a common practice by local TV stations, and its been going on for years. This is how a news operation fills 4 to 5 hours of news. Now it's become an excuse that viewers are not accepting especially in this 24/7 news cycle. People want fresh news on the spot not repeats. Can you blame viewers from saying, "I already saw that report I'm out of here." Researchers are finding that if TV news continues to repeat stories, people will repeatedly abandon them. TV stations have gotten away with the shameless practice. I'm hoping they look at the Tivo study, and institute some change. Sometimes it takes someone pointing out the obvious.

On that thought. One newspaper writer from Utah filed a great story about the quality of local news, and he picked the San Diego market, perhaps because he was here on vacation. When Vince Horiuchi tuned in he spotted some of the obvious things that stick-out yet are hardly addressed. First he said local anchors do way too much chit-chatting. It's embarassing how much time is devoted to "happy talk." Thats the term to describe awkward transitions between anchors on the news set. Horiuchi said he grew impatient with all the fluff before they got to some real news. He says local news has become a personality contest, and proved it when a local San Diego weatherman began signing and dancing to a pop song from the Beatles called "Here Come the Sun." All this while presenting the forecast.

Perhaps the best point he made is the amount of crime related news on the local San Diego news programs. He claimed he saw 90 percent crime news on the air. That's a bit exaggerated, but I can see how people come away with that impression. That's partly because some folks turn off the news after watching 10 minutes of of it. The reporter said there was little reference to stories affecting our lives. Issues like health, education, the economy, and insights into our local government.

"If it bleeds it leads," used to be the barometer to gauge the importance of story selection in a newscast. That old model is broken. For a fresh approach, I invite the Salt Lake City reporter to log on to The Voice of San Diego, an on-line news publication. Maybe Salt Lake City has its own on-line operation like "The Voice." Its good to see the world through a different pair of eyes. What are you seeing in local news? I would like to know. I'd also like to examine solutions.

 

 

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"Begging for Money"

It seems the economy is on everyone's mind. Thats why I've been focusing on money news in the media business. Gannett just reported a first quarter loss of 60 percent. The newspaper company, Media General says its quarter net loss is 21 million dollars. Some media giants like Gannett, and Tribune own print, and broadcast outlets, and they're hurting. Just yesterday Sam Zell of Tribune admitted he made a mistake in judgement when he purchaced the media giant in late 2007.

 "Show me the Money." was the title of my last blog. This one may as well be titled, "Begging for Money." A U-S Senator is sponsoring a bill to help bankrupt newspaper companies survive. The bill would allow the companies to become Non-profit entities. Sen.Ben Cardin says the papers would operate much like public broadcasting stations. Donations would keep them operating, but they would be restricted from certain activities like endorsing political candidates. There is strong movement out there to create the business models of the future.

Another model comes from a Yale professor. Steven Brill of the Yale Journalism Initiative wants to charge consumers to use content generated by media companies. He wants to create a co-op of newspapers, and broadcast companies who would provide that content on a common platform, and charge for it. Brill says on-line journalism is essential for the survival of print, and broadcast outlets. Without it Brill says companies are "committing suicide." Even stronger words for a business model that is broken.

The whole idea for the Yale model comes from a student's inquiry. That student's mother was worried that her daughter,(a journalism student in Brill's class) would not be able to get a job, or afford a living when she graduated. The professor didn't have an answer for that one. It became his motivation. Brill started the Yale Journalism Initiative. Professor Brill wants to make sure all future journalism graduates have somewhere to work, and be able to earn a respectable living.

My point is this economy is forcing us change! The world is now dictating that change whether its in media, or banking, or manufacturing. The addage, "Necessity is the mother of invention," applies here. We are seeing these examples and others emerge.(see my previous blog "show me the money") Question is, which one is better, which one will work. I like the fact professors, business people, and the everyday citizen are taking up the challenge. Unfortunatly it takes mass lay-offs, and dozens of bankruptcies for the world to take notice. Everyone would like a quick-fix, one solution that could make things better. Instead of one model, we need dozens of models. Each one customized to radio, tv, or print. I'm reminded of a conversation I had yesterday with a colleague. He says the hour-long newscasts of today will be gone in a few years. People want their information now, and won't make an appointment to watch tv at a certain time. He also pointed out that people want their news in bite-size chunks, perhaps a five minute update on their i-phone. Venture Capitalists are keeping an eye on that prospect. Keep those ideas coming, we will be watching, listening, and taking note.

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"Show me the Money"

I was reading where Sam Zell of Tribune applied for a loan modification for his company. Tribune owns TV stations like San Diego's KSWB Fox-5.  Along with the Chicago Tribune, and The L.A. Times, and other media properties. Zell's  company has been in trouble ever since it bought Tribune a year and a half ago. In that time Zell, and his captains have managed to fire half of the Chicago Tribune staff. It is also facing an federal investigation of its ownership structure, and more staff cuts are on the way. Zell called the Tribune purchase, "the deal from hell." Unfortunatly the economy soured just after his purchase of Tribune, and now he is facing the "bankruptsy from hell."

I'm not a financial guy. I do know that the world has changed, but are we changing with it? I want to examine ideas out there of a financial model for media properties. The talk lately has been of creating news content, and having viewers or readers pay for it. Perhaps an on-demand model for local news. Another is to follow the lead of the Huffington Post. The company is raising money to fund an investigative unit of its own. Still others like The Voice of San Diego is asking for donations to help them cover the cost of doing journallism in town. Cities from Chicago to Seattle, to San Diego have been creating these start-ups called "hyperlocal news." EveryBlock, Outside.in, Placeblogger, and Patch offen collect articles and blogs, and mix in data from local government agencies to give people a slice of news.

Since we're talking money. should news make a profit? Local television stations have a responsibililty to the community to offer a public service to its viewers. Should news be a profit center? Years back News programs made a huge profit, now they are loosing money. The subject was an interesting topic on a popular industry website called tvspy.com. Comments ranged from "news was taken as a civic responsibility that a TV station license holder had for its community of license. It was never intended to be profitable."  to "Employees cost money, cameras, and news cars cost money. Who's going to pay?" The model we're talking about is a relic from the past, and the days of heavy government regulation for media. "TV companies were given a monopoly to the airwaves in exchange of operating in the public interest." Was another comment, my question is, should we re-examine that old concept?

I talked about "hyperlocal sites" earlier. If these sites rely on organizations to sponsor them, could they provide un-biased, and fair reporting? What if that site had to do an investigative story on their sponsor? Also, many of these sites rely on simply cutting, and pasting content from newspapers, and TV.  If newspapers, and TV news stations go under, who would supply news to some of these sites.

The point is, everybody deserves access to news information. Good, accurate, and useful information supports a healthy democracy. Who's going to pay for it.

 

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"Where the News Comes First"

I was meeting with friends, and family over the weekend. It's always an opportunity to visit, and ask questions. It seems everyone I ask who's under 40 years old watches, or reads their news content on-line. That trend has been growing.  That's quite obvious. Now a recent survey from Frank N. Magid Associates finally puts some numbers to the issue. Researchers wondered if people turn more often to local TV news when times are tough.

The survey says people are turning to local TV news more frequently than in the past. However, the web experienced the most growth, and people are going to a local station's web address to watch local news. The survey says 17 percent of respondents said they are following local news "more" on the web.  That compares to a 16 percent increase for people following local news "more" on TV. Look out, by this time next year I would expect that number to grow into the 20's or to 30 percent.  The numbers also tells me more people are interested in local news during hard times like these. The economy is on people's minds, and local news is not dead.

More often those people are finding out about their world, or their local neighborhood, through mobile devices like I-phones or the blackberry. The issue that comes to mind is why doesn't a news site on the web have it's own brand of newscast? I'm talking about a "new" local news format. Something that's unique, and not a re-broadcast of a TV format. Let's look at a possible model. Create a web page with all the tools to program your own newscast. Much like loading up songs on their I-pod, and listening to them. This would be a user friendly set-up consisting of a menu of stories, and a moderator giving you the news you want to watch. Simply load, lock, and watch.

I'd like to hear your ideas. When we started this blog we spelled out a simple mission. We know the local TV news model is dying, or broken. Our question is "what's next." I've always believed a marriage of TV, and a web site is possible. There must be a way to interface whtat's broadcast, and marry it to a station's web site. Too many times a TV station's site is managed by 1 person. That manager simply cuts, and pastes content from the tube to the site. Just repeating the same TV news format on the web is not it, because that format has to be more dynamic than that, more interactive.  I hinted earlier of the I-phone and the way users easily manipulate the screen for applications, and information. Let's create a TV news format for the I-phone age. 

My friends at KCRA in Sacramento maybe on to something. They pioneered the phrase "Where the News Comes First." I talked to a manager there a year ago, and at that time they were gravitating towards the web. That means the priority is their website, and if breaking news happens they go directly to the web "first." Why wait until 5pm for the news, when people can just go to the website. I know the U-T often breaks a web version of a story a day before it hits the morning paper. I believe the next step is to actually make local news more accessible to viewers through a unique news format designed for the internet. The San Diego New Media Rights Forum is dedicated to finding that format. 

 

 

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