The Podium
Blog posts tagged with 'Business Models'
Friday, May 17
By Brad
As people are increasingly wanting to consume their entertainment at any time and in any way, content creators are experimenting with ways to deliver it. At paidContent, Laura Hazard Owen writes about an unexpected issue one content provider is facing since taking their product online:
The original idea behind soap operas was that daily episodes would keep viewers hooked and advertisers happy. But few people have time to devote to mid-day TV any more, and as TV viewing shifts online, the model is changing.
It’s been just two and a half weeks weeks since popular soap operas One Life to Live and All My Children were reborn as online-only shows — but production company Prospect Park has already decided to cut back on the number of new episodes released online each week. The change in schedule, the company claims, is due to the fact that viewers are “binge-watching” instead of watching one episode a day, and this makes it too hard for them to keep up.
Tuesday, October 09
By Brad
The fine folks at Mashable have posted an interactive graphic breaking down how major websites and tech companies make their money. Among some of the interesting findings, popular blog provider Tumblr has yet to turn a profit, while Twitter has turned the corner of making money via advertising.
Monday, June 20
By Brad
MarketWatch highlights yet more evidence that the mobility of the web is upending traditional business models:
Amazon.com today announced that John Locke has become the eighth author to sell over 1 million Kindle books, becoming the newest member of the “Kindle Million Club,” and the first independently published author to receive this distinction. As of yesterday, John Locke has sold 1,010,370 Kindle books using Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).
Over a million books direct to customers. That’s the power of innovation.
Friday, April 15
By Brad
At the LA Times, Dawn C. Chmielewski and Meg James offer an interesting look at online video site Hulu’s success — and how its explosive popularity is causing heartburn for the TV networks that created it:
Once hailed as the networks’ solution in taming the Internet, Hulu’s stunning success is now undermining the very system it was designed to protect, forcing the site’s owners to reconsider what Hulu should be.
“Technology is changing so fast, and, as a direct result, so is consumers’ behavior,” said Jordan Levin, chief executive of the TV and Internet studio Generate. “One of Hulu’s problems was that it accelerated changes in behavior faster than the companies were prepared for.”
Wednesday, March 16
By Brad
According to new data from research firm the NPD Group, a whopping 61% of all online video is now being served by Netflix.
But even though Netflix is outright dominating the streaming video market, Brian Stelter of the New York Times reports the company is branching out — specifically, helping create content of its own:
Netflix may be on the verge of acquiring its first original television series, “House of Cards,” a drama to be directed by David Fincher.
The negotiations were first reported Tuesday afternoon by Deadline.com, which said that the two-season, 26-episode commitment would be valued at more than $100 million.
With Netflix’s runaway success not going unnoticed by other players — including the very content providers the company currently pays a hefty sum to stream movies and TV shows — this could prove to be a very smart move.
Monday, March 07
By Brad
Over at CNet, Greg Sandoval has an interesting piece detailing the tricky relationship Hollywood studios have with online streaming juggernaut Netflix:
On previous trips to Hollywood over the past two years, most of the studio executives I spoke with seemed to have a love-hate attitude towards Netflix. Many said they wanted to wait and see how Netflix’s streaming service fared. Some were skeptical that the service could ever draw a large audience without hit films and shows, which they doubted Netflix could afford. At the same time, even Netflix’s biggest critics at the studios were glad to have the company help bid up prices for content.
But since then, Netflix has proven it can acquire both sought-after content as well as a large audience. Netflix’s rapid rise stunned many at the studios and now even former supporters there are wary of Netflix’s growing influence. To make matters worse, Netflix is having some unanticipated impacts on the studio’s businesses.
Wednesday, February 09
By Brad
Via Gautham Nageth from The Hill, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) has fired off another courtroom missile in its war against piracy:
The Motion Picture Association of American filed a lawsuit Tuesday on behalf of several member studios against the file-sharing service Hotfile for copyright infringement.
“In less than two years Hotfile has become one of the 100 most trafficked sites in the world. That is a direct result of the massive digital theft that Hotfile promotes,” said MPAA chief content protection officer Daniel Mandil.
Over at TechDirt, Mike Masnick is unimpressed with the suit:
Basically, the MPAA and the big studios it represents have decided they don’t like the fact that Hotfile isn’t protecting their business model and have decided that, therefore, it must be illegal. But that’s not how the law works. It’s entirely possible that a court will get blinded by the “but… but… piracy” aspect of this lawsuit. But looking through the details, I’m really shocked at the lack of any actual evidence for direct or contributory infringement.
Tuesday, November 16
By Brad
Thanks to the ease of finding information online, residential phone books are going the way of the dodo, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Thursday, August 05
By Brad
Via Reuters Canada, some in the entertainment industry — which for years has struggled to combat file sharing and illegal downloads of content — are feeling better about the future of people paying for what they download:
There’s a spreading sense of optimism in Hollywood about young consumers’ willingness to pay for digital content: Although members of the so-called Napster generation might be lost forever to a collective addiction to pirated free content, their younger siblings offer digital distributors hope of a brighter business future.
“You have a whole generation whose attitude toward interactive content is completely different,” said Patrick Russo, a principal at the Salter Group advisory firm. “That generation is growing up paying for content. It may be their parents who are actually paying for it right now, but they do recognize that they are paying for content instead of stealing it.”
But the site TechDirt, which has long encouraged Hollywood studios and record labels to stop fretting over illegal downloads and instead adjust their business models, warns the entertainment industry shouldn’t get too comfortable:
This kind of report is the sort of thing that is written to make big company execs feel good about their unwillingness to adapt—rather than give them any sort of useful advice.
Thursday, April 22
By Brad
For the past two years, online video site Hulu has been giving content away to viewers. But as the Los Angeles Times reports, that business model is about to change:
Hulu, the popular online site for watching television shows, plans to begin testing a subscription service as soon as May 24, according to people with knowledge of the plans.
Under the proposal, Hulu would continue to provide for free the five most recent episodes of shows like Fox’s “Glee,” “ABC’s “Lost” or NBC’s “Saturday Night Live.” But viewers who want to see additional episodes would pay $9.95 a month to access a more comprehensive selection, called Hulu Plus, these people said.
Hulu currently ranks only behind YouTube when it comes to online viewers. It will be interesting to see what this new plan does to their traffic.
Tuesday, February 16
By Brad
Nielsen asked 27,000 worldwide consumers what they would be willing to pay for when it comes to online content. Not surprisingly, movies, music, and games topped the list.
For the beleaguered news industry, however, the numbers aren’t as encouraging. According to the report, 79% of respondents said they would no longer use a web site that charges them for content. Yet more evidence that ideas like paywalls to access newspaper face an uphill battle with the public.
Wednesday, January 27
By Brad
Recently, the New York Times announced it would experiment with charging for content online. Before they take the leap, however, they should check out what’s happened to their fellow New York paper Newsday. From the Observer:
In late October, Newsday, the Long Island daily that the Dolans bought for $650 million, put its web site, newsday.com, behind a pay wall. The paper was one of the first non-business newspapers to take the plunge by putting up a pay wall, so in media circles it has been followed with interest. Could its fate be a sign of what others, including The New York Times, might expect?
So, three months later, how many people have signed up to pay $5 a week, or $260 a year, to get unfettered access to newsday.com?
The answer: 35 people. As in fewer than three dozen. As in a decent-sized elementary-school class.
Thursday, August 06
By Brad
As traditional journalism models continue to crumble, giants in the industry are scrambling to make up lost revenue. Now one of the biggest giants of all, Rupert Murdoch—owner of the New York Post and the Wall Street Journal, among other publications—is declaring the era of free online reading is coming to an end. Reports Business Spectator:
News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch told analysts in a conference call after News Corp released its full-year results that the traditional newspaper business model has to change.
“The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive methods of distribution,” Mr Murdoch said.
“But it has not made content free. Accordingly we intend to charge for all our news websites,” he said.
The Wall Street Journal already charges users to read online content, but while the paper may seem like a good blueprint moving forward, there’s a catch. People are okay paying to read the WSJ online because it’s been that way since the beginning. Convincing readers to start paying for content they’ve traditionally received for free is a whole different ball game.
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