News for Nothing: Life on the Web --- Michael Hedges December 17, 2008 A question posed by an ftm reader is simple enough. What real world examples are out there of financially sustainable news websites? Opportunity abounds on the internet domains. Cold hard cash is harder to find.
Consolidate and operate, back again on media managers’ dance card --- Michael Hedges September 17, 2007 Ear-splitting, multi-billion euro media deals will likely become quite rare over the next 18 months. A few are in the pipe-line, now slowed to a crawl as lenders and private equity managers, literally and figuratively, take stock. Inside the media sector the cycle is shifting from the financial to the strategic.
So, Just How Successful Was That Original Prince CD Giveaway? --- Philip Stone July 24, 2007 The figures are in from last week’s UK Mail on Sunday giveaway of Prince’s new CD, Planet Earth, and circulation on that day was up a whopping 600,000, a huge financial and promotional success for Prince, but also for the newspaper? All depends how advertisers will look at the circulation numbers and how many of those extra 600,000 sales stick.
Box Opened, Tentacles Appear, Everybody’s Entertained --- Michael Hedges May 22, 2014 Follow on Twitter Brand building is an engaging business. The media world is in that business, for itself and for others. The biggest brands get people talking which, in post-modern terms, has nothing to do with actually talking. Social media has usurped than function. This is fun when the brand message is fun, happiness or shopping, less so for oil spills and bank scandals.
After The Greenwashing Speeches, There Was Dancing --- Michael Hedges January 25, 2023 Follow on Twitter Buzzwords are as popular as ever. Popular culture demands them. Simplifying language is easier for some than others. Those who teach language - and journalism - grumble at the rise of terms lacking intellectual rigor. But, buzzwords only pop-up in new forms. Those who are confused need to consult with their grandchildren.
Platforms matter more and more for radio broadcasting. Listeners arrive on many paths, now including streaming and podcasts. The basics, however, cannot be ignored. Listeners like surprises, except when they don't, and will not accept being neglected. Once they turn away, they won't come back.