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Posted 3:26 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Provocative Ideas About Pricing and Billing
Rich Gordon on a new Harvard Business Review article
As the online publishing industry experiments with pay-for-content models, publishers will need to understand what makes people buy content and what it will take to keep them as customers. A new Harvard Business Review article, "Pricing and the Psychology of Consumption," by John Gourville and Dilip Soman, definitely contributes some interesting information. (Unfortunately, HBR articles are available online only for a fee ($3.50 in this case, with a free summary available).In both print and online contexts, I have repeatedly heard it suggested that publishers should try to sign up users for credit card payments and auto-renewals. But the HBR article suggests that the less frequently consumers are billed, the less likely they are to use a service. And the less they use the service, the less likely they are to renew. For instance, the article notes, people purchasing a health-club membership with a single up-front annual fee will use the health club less — and be less likely to renew — than those who pay by the month. The article doesn't address content subscriptions, specifically, but it seems quite relevant. And it also makes me wonder whether the newspaper industry's recent push for credit-card auto-renewals for print subscriptions might not backfire over the long run.
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Posted 3:00 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Free, But Only During Off Hours
Steve Outing on online business models
News.com reports on a fantasy football website that's trying an interesting experiment. The service, which has always been free to users, will remain free only during "non-peak" hours. Players who want access to the site during "peak" hours (6:30-10:30 a.m. and 3-6 p.m., U.S. Pacific time) must pay up ($3.95 per month). Some fantasy-team owners are, predictably, miffed by the change. To which I say, tough! I think this is a smart strategy for mollifying those customers who will never pay, and bringing in enough money for the site to be able to survive. Other content websites considering putting up a subscription wall might want to consider a similar alternative strategy. It could work in certain circumstances.
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Posted 1:51 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
The NFL Rules the Internet on Sundays
Steve Klein on online sports content
Weekends, as we well know, weren't made for Internet traffic. But the National Football League in the U.S. is one business that does thrive on Sundays, at least from September through the Super Bowl at the end of January, points out Mike McAllister in a story in the Dallas Morning News. From fantasy to reality, Sunday visits have become a necessity for NFL fans. "I'm sure in Europe, they would argue that Premier League soccer is similar," SportsLine.com VP Joe Ferreira said. "But in the domestic U.S., nothing drives traffic like NFL football. That goes all the way down to the smallest of sports websites that are out there."Adds Ashley Swadel of ESPN.com, "Historically, September is one of our highest months of the year. We do see an overall increase in traffic once the NFL starts, including Sundays and Mondays throughout the season." CBS SportsLine.com, which produces the NFL's official site, may benefit most from the seasonal traffic spike. It has access to selected NFL text and streamed audio/video content. Last year, according to McAllister, SportsLine exceeded 10 million visitors in each of the five months during the NFL season — the only five months it has reached that level. The top 20 traffic days in SportsLine's history have been on NFL Sundays.
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Posted 1:36 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Verizon Deserves a Giant Cheer
Peter M. Zollman on privacy protection
As someone who deals in intellectual property, I'm mindful, as we all should be, of the importance of protecting the legal rights of people who own that property. Nevertheless, some of the companies that are being ripped off, or think they're being ripped off, don't seem to care much for the rights of others. Thus, we all ought to stand up and cheer Verizon Communications Corp., which is trying to block a sweeping request by the Recording Industry Association of America to grab names of people who might be illegally sharing music files. Verizon says no, and is in court protecting privacy rights. An unusual but happy stand by a major corporation.As reported by the Washington Post, Verizon is fighting the RIAA's efforts, saying in part, "RIAA proposes a dazzlingly broad subpoena power that would allow any person, without filing a complaint, to invoke the coercive power of a federal court to force disclosure of the identity of any user of the Internet, based on a mere assertion ... that the user is engaged in infringing activity," Verizon's legal filing said. Perhaps the scariest part of the article from a privacy perspective is the last paragraph, which notes the bi-partisan bill filed in the U.S. Congress that would "allow the industry to hack into offenders' computers to disrupt file sharing."
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Posted 11:05 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
An Idea for Print Publishers
Steve Outing on better media convergence
Here's an idea for newspapers and magazines. (Is anyone doing this yet?) On letters to the editor pages in print editions, include with each letter a URL link to the article that the letter writer is commenting on. Too often with printed letters, it's difficult to remember what the original story said. This is a pretty simple — and reader-friendly — concept, but I haven't seen it in action yet. I'm not talking about the occasional reference, but including URLs for every letter that refers to a previously printed story. To do it best, create super-short URLs — e.g., www.newspaper.com/159 — that take readers to the articles quickly and efficiently.
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Posted 7:20 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
It's Dangerous to Be an Online Journalist, Too
Steve Outing on political violence
In a non-bylined article published in Online Journalism Review, a "media expert working closely with journalists in Kazakhstan and other Central Asian countries" reports on a case in Khazakhstan of an online journalist being beaten and threatened because of his critical coverage of that nation's leadership. I suppose tyrants have even more to fear from online media than local traditional media outlets, due to the broad reach of the Internet. Ergo, it can be costly to be an online journalist in dangerous parts of the world.
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Posted 6:51 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Reading the Newspaper While Driving
Steve Outing on digital delivery of content
This sounds very cool. The San Francisco Chronicle, working with MobileSoft, will be the first newspaper to offer a CD audio edition of its daily content. The way it works is that a subscriber goes to SFGate.com, website of the Chronicle, and selects newspaper sections of interest and specifies how long their commute typically takes. Then overnight, the software will burn a CD with the audio versions of the content requested, ready to put into your car CD player or portable CD unit for the trip to the office. (Alternatively, the content can be loaded to an MP3 player or PDA.) Sure beats reading the print Chronicle while driving! No word yet on pricing. Here's the press release announcing the new service. (Thanks to IWantMedia.com for the tip.)
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Posted 4:11 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
You Don't Have Mail – or Maybe You Do
Steve Outing on infrastructure problems
I've changed this item from its original form. What I've been experiencing myself today is personal e-mail that's not arriving. What I'm hearing from some other e-mail publishers is that their mail isn't getting delivered. What I see on my own e-mail publication delivery reports are many more undeliverables than is normal. But I haven't been able to confirm that there is a major infrastructure problem on the Internet affecting the U.S. (which I originally reported in this item) — though some signs seem to point to that. Lyris, a major e-mail delivery service provider, reported problems but says they've cleared up. Sorry for not being more definitive. I guess there's a lesson here: e-mail is not yet as reliable as postal mail (just much faster).
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Posted 3:43 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Blog Your Way to Syndication
Carla Passino on Weirdfiles.com
Freelance journalist Ken Layne has found a new way to use the Web to help him pay the rent. A former editor of quirky news pages, Layne recently started writing Weird Files, a weekly roundup of bizarre/weird/supernatural events taking place around the world. Yesterday, he launched a companion website, Weirdfiles.com, to help him syndicate Weird Files to local newspapers. A daily weblog helps him build a steady readership and gives feature editors a feel for the column, while a syndication page provides the details of Layne's terms and conditions.Layne, who also publishes a popular weblog, exploits the power of his readership to support his new venture. "Want the Weird Files in your local paper?" he writes on Weirdfiles.com. "Then let them know." And on KenLayne.com: "Here's what you can do to help your buddy Layne: let the proper authorities [at your paper] know you'd like to see Weird Files in your feature section, and then send them to the syndication page." The site also helps Layne gather story tips: "I figure I'll blog stuff as I find it and then use the items to build the weekly column. People can send me weird news, I can link back to it, and we can have fun with the concept of collecting things that might otherwise escape a larger audience."
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Posted 1:25 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Jayhawks Go to Pay Model
Steve Klein on online sports content
Here's more evidence that the days of free broadband content are over. The University of Kansas will begin charging for streaming audio football and basketball games on its athletic site beginning September 16. Working with ESPN+, the sports giant's pay-per-view service which operates the Jayhawk Radio Network, the subscription service for live and archived Internet audio will cost $5.95 a month or $29.95 for the school year.The key to the ESPN+ strategy is what it calls "enhanced programming." Although many schools' games still remain free to listeners, the subscription plan allows users access to additional programs that are not available on most other sites. "It was very important that we offered our Internet listeners enhanced programming compared to what they have had access to in the past," said Becky Martz, general manager of ESPN+. "The archive feature also allows fans to listen to all of our games and shows at their leisure." Kansas fans will be able to hear Hawk Talk with football coach Mark Mangino and men's basketball coach Roy Williams, women's basketball coach Marian Washington's show, and the Jayhawk Report with athletics director Al Bohl. In addition, listeners will be able to tune into the weekly football and men's basketball press conferences, and up to 20 KU baseball games.
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Posted 10:35 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
China Blocks Google
Andrew Stroehlein on censorship
The Chinese authorities have added another website to the list of foreign sites they find threatening and therefore block: Google. Just why China has decided to block Google and prevent its citizens from accessing the popular search engine is anyone's guess. Oliver Burkeman in an article for today's Guardian suggests that the regime didn't like some of the search returns when you put in the name of the country's president, such as "an interactive, animated game called Slap The Evil Dictator Jiang Zemin" at urban75.com. A BBC Online piece from Monday implies that it has something to do with the upcoming Communist Party congress. In any case, China's censorship can apparently now be demonstrated from anywhere through a nifty online tool from the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. Indeed, type Google's URL into its machine, and you get: "Testing complete for http://www.google.com. Result: Reported as inaccessible in China."
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Posted 3:58 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Watch the Bouncing Ball
Steve Klein on online sports content
When it comes to sports scores and results, there is real time and REAL time, according to a story by Teresa Riordan in the New York Times. Most sports scores, which are delivered by an ESPN/Disney-owed company called SportsTicker, are actually delivered with about a two-minute delay. But IBM is demonstrating that it can deliver sports results instantly on a desktop computer. During the U.S. Tennis Open, a two-week major tournament now in its quarterfinal stages, fans can log on and select any match under way for automatic updates because line umpires and statisticians enter data into handheld computers and ThinkPads. They also keep a running tally of such statistics as unforced errors and double faults.It is not unusual for online sports applications and trends to be applied elsewhere. Daniel Sturman, a senior manager at IBM, says the technology, which was released as a commercial software product in July, has applications that go beyond sports information, including online stock trading and auctions.
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Posted 3:02 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Microsoft Caters to Hollywood Copyright Concerns
Paul Grabowicz on digital piracy
Microsoft and other software makers increasingly are allying themselves with giant entertainment companies by building stringent copyright protections into their media players and other devices. The Los Angeles Times reports on how this could lead to severe restrictions on consumers' ability to copy video or audio files and even the disabling of peer-to-peer file-swapping programs.
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Posted 2:51 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
New Media Delivers to the Old
Laura Ruel on Internet radio
Recently I participated in a webcast with the Internet radio organization FIRE, the Feminist International Radio Endeavor. It provided a poignant reminder of how a large number of our world's citizens get their information: radio airwaves. Web-based organizations such as FIRE are using the Internet not just to reach those with computers, but also to reach those in developing countries who utilize radio to keep informed. FIRE allows free re-broadcast of its interviews and reports. Its website even provides instructions on how to plug your cassette player into the headphone jack of your computer to record the sound files. "If you work in radio, or have access to radio, you can download our sound files and re-broadcast them on your own programs,” the FIRE website states.The concept has implications for mainstream media, as well. New-media journalists sometimes assume that online news can only reach those with the advanced technology to receive it. Some alternative media, such as FIRE, are realizing that there are many creative ways to deliver their news to a truly international audience.
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Posted 2:33 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Newspapers Play With Multimedia for Sept. 11 Anniversary
Jade Walker on unique coverage
U.S. newspapers are gearing up for extra large September 11 anniversary issues. Some, like the New York Times, plan to create separate sections on their websites devoted to the occasion. These areas will be filled with articles, links, and a variety of audio/video presentations. Others, like the Chicago Tribune, plan to stuff cool commemorative CD-ROMs into their dead-tree editions. The Tribune's disks will include 600 archived articles, and video interviews with 25 Tribune reporters, Editor & Publisher reports. Best of all, 300 photos will be featured on the disk, including some images that never ran in the paper. "It's a way to access the journalism through a different medium," said Tribune editor Ann Marie Lipinski.
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Posted 11:08 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Sept. 11 Online: Web History, Revived
Steve Outing on re-launch of archive site
My fellow weblog writers are busy doing interesting stuff, it seems. (Also see item below this.) Norbert Specker has re-launched his screen-shot archive of online news sites on September 11, 2001. The archive includes images of 230 news sites from around the world captured on September 11 and 12. Says Norbert, "Many of the screen shots are the only witness to what the 'front page' of an online news site looked liked on that day, as few online publications kept copies of their pages. ... It is a unique moment in Web time captured for history." The archive is a non-profit venture, and has been visited by some 400,000 people in the last year.
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Posted 11:06 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
'Turn Down That Blog!'
Steve Outing on the next wave in weblogging
Fellow E-Media Tidbits writer Carla Passino tells me that she's experimenting with an audio weblog, called the International Sentinel. Says Carla, "I read blogs principally because they are so personal — I like to hear the 'voice' of the writer as it comes unconstrained through his or her writing. So I thought, what about having his or her real voice come through? There is hardly anything more personal than that. Hearing someone's voice makes you feel like you know them better, makes you more involved."She's not the only one thinking about audio blogging. There's a weblog about audio blogs, What's Next? Audio Blogs!, with ongoing conversation about the concept and links to other audio bloggers (only four, not yet including Carla on the list, but the concept is young). This does make me think that computer users — especially those in offices — should always have headphones at the ready.
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Posted 6:37 PM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Unapologetic Monopolists
Steve Outing on the threat to public records
If you care about access to public records, you'll want to read this article by Al Podboy, director of libraries for Baker & Hostetler LLP (Cleveland, Ohio), about an effort to make it more difficult for the public (and thus, journalists) to easily and freely or inexpensively access public records on the Internet. He cites efforts by the conservative group American Legislative Exchange Counsel (ALEC) in several U.S. states to pass legislation that would prohibit public agencies from developing Internet document or data services that compete with the private sector. Podboy says of these efforts, which in effect seek to protect information monopolists from competition that might affect their pricing, "These challenges go directly to the public's right to obtain information in a cost-effective manner." The author writes from the perspective of the proposed legislation worsening the lot of lawyers seeking information, but the arguments of course apply equally to journalists — who stand to lose should ALEC prevail.
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Posted 11:22 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
A Newspaper Is Peruvian Online Leader
Juan C. Camus on audience numbers
El Comercio, a major newspaper from Lima, has emerged as the leader in Internet audience in Peru. New research numbers show that 19% of local Internet users point out that website as their preferred one. In second place is Panamericana, a TV network (16%). An interesting finding of the study is that 71% of users log on to the Internet through public places, very well known as the "cabinas."
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Posted 11:15 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Paying to Read Blogs
Steve Outing on a premium content network
Rafat Ali writes for PaidContent.org about a premium-content network for weblogs. It's called the Blogging Network, and the idea is that weblogs decide that they will no longer offer all or some of their content for free. Online users wishing to read any paid weblog join the Blogging Network and pay $2.99 per month — which gets them access to all participating paid blogs. BN is keeping 50% of the revenues, and the rest is split among member weblogs, calculated by overall popularity.I've touted the virtues of the paid premium-content network model for a while now. However, I'm not so sure that this one will work. Weblogs are great and valuable Internet publications, but at this point they're probably not worth paying for, in the minds of most Internet users. The paid content network model will work best with vertical content that's narrow enough to cause people to open their wallets. Weblogs are too broad of a sector. I'd love to be proven wrong, but I doubt I will.
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Posted 11:00 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Baseball Kills a Site but Not the Fan
Steve Klein on online sports content
When it comes to taking care of its fans, you've got to hand it to Major League Baseball. After all, the game — OK, the players — did back down from a work stoppage last week. But now, MLB is threatening the websites of four fans who it accuses of using official logos for profit, according to a story by Associated Press. One of the sites, started back in 1996 by 14-year-old Bryan Hoch, was devoted to the New York Mets but is no longer online. The other target sites, still online, are devoted to the New York Yankees, Tampa Bay Devil Rays, and Houston Astros. "We encourage fans to speak about baseball and to produce websites," said Ethan Orlinsky, senior vice president and general counsel for Major League Baseball Properties. "We're simply asking they do it within the confines of the law."There's a happy ending for Mets fan Hoch, however, who ceased publishing his site on July 30. He now writes a regular column for FOXSports.com about his beloved Mets.
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Posted 10:54 AM US Eastern Time | perma-link to item below
Paid Content, an Author at a Time
Steve Outing on the TidBITS experiment
The Macintosh e-newsletter TidBITS (no relation to this weblog) has embarked on an interesting variation of the voluntary-payment model for online content. The site long has existed on reader contributions and corporate sponsorships, and it will continue to do so rather than switch to a paid-subscription model. But in part because its writers are currently not paid, the newsletter has devised a program called "PayBITS," which allows readers who like a specific article to voluntarily make a payment to the author. At the end of each story are a couple lines of text and a link to the author's payment page. The amount of contribution (if any at all) is up to the reader. Publisher Adam Engst reports that one of his recent articles received 26 voluntary payments totaling $116.60 — an amount "I wouldn't walk past on the sidewalk."I think this is a model that other free-content websites and newsletters should think about. Consider a variation for a free site that exists on ads but isn't getting enough of them — say, a payment request at the end of articles and the money is shared between writer and publisher. It's an incentive to authors to turn out great articles, because their normal article fees might be supplemented handsomely by reader contributions. Of course, this approach won't fit for every publisher. It might appear unseemly for the New York Times or other established news organizations.
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