Re: Newspapers are doomed?

From: Havah Hope <havah_at_aperfectdealer.com>
Date: Wed 20 Sep 2000 13:15:54 -0500

ANTONIO ROMERO <romero_at_alumni.princeton.edu> WROTE:
> One interesting data point that no one in this
> conversation has mentioned: From what I've read (and
> I'm no expert in this domain) the big threat to the
> newspaper from the Internet is in its ability to siphon
> off the classified ads that make it possible to put out
> a huge newspaper for a cheap price. EBay, then, becomes
> the major threat to the newspaper, not MSNBC.com.

I think people will always read a local newspaper; I
do. It is the same argument that TV shows are having
with the people who download the episodes. I will use
"Buffy-The Vampire Slayer" as an example because it is
the one I know best.

To get the episode you have to be signed on to an IRC
chat on the subject of Buffy. Sharing files with
friends is not a violation of copyright laws (as it has
been explained to me) and that is why the restriction.
The sites where you can download from do actually send
a "ping" to your machine to make sure that you are in
fact signed on to the IRC. The people in the IRC are,
near as I can tell, all a cult following of the show.
All of them watch the episodes when they air on TV
(except for some of the international members who
cannot get the show in their countries) and then
download the show to rewatch it or save it (the quality
is much higher than on video tape). Fox wants the
sites banned because they get no royalties from the
downloads and since the people who put the shows up do
so without the commercials, Fox cannot charge more for
the advertising. So, the point here is that although
the show is easily available for download, most people
who do so also watch the show. Fox is not losing out
although they think they are. One of the reasons that
the people who download the show also watch it when it
airs on TV is that they know a loss in ratings will
cause the show to be cancelled.

Now, if Fox were smart what they would do is make a
downloadable version available with commercials one
week after the show airs and use the number of
downloads to boost the money they charge for ads (or
even have separate ads for the differing delivery
systems). People who watch the show are cult fans.
They would have a huge moral problem putting the show
up for download if there was a good quality version
available from Fox. It is because Fox is taking the
attitude that no one should be able to download the
show that has spawned a huge underground in the
downloadable version.

The newspaper industry may change because of the
internet, but they do not have to disappear. They will
only disappear if they refuse to change. Remember there
are still horses and candles. Those industries have
not disappeared, they have changed significantly though
since the 1800's.

Havah Hope
Internet Alliances Manager
A Perfect Dealer, Inc.
havah_at_aperfectdealer.com




Received on Wed Sep 20 2000 - 13:15:54 CDT