Mar
17
One more from the State of the Media report: Newspaper folk might want to take the time to read the local TV section.
Not only are the overall financials better than they are for newspapers, there are indications in there that local TV is finally taking the internet seriously. And, if video really is one of the big attractors of web users, that could have some impact on the local newspaper’s web traffic. This could be fun to watch.
Mark: Like you, I am still chewing my way through this mass of information. One thing I can’t quite understand in the local TV section is the profitability of their websites. Take a look at the second graphic (first table) on this page:
http://www.stateofthenewsmedia.....38;media=8
It shows that local TV websites tend to be profitable in Markets 1-50, but not in Markets 51-150. Then in Markets 151+, they tend to be quite profitable. What gives? The only explanation we could come up with in class yesterday was that local TV websites in smaller markets are bigger fish in a smaller pond, or perhaps more a part of the community. Maybe the only advertising alternative to the monopoly daily, which gouges on ad rate due to its market dominance.