By Kelly Faircloth 1/29 1:15pm

Video Killed the Radio Star

Worth the money?

Serious Question: Is There Anything You’d Pay to Watch on YouTube?

Is there anything on YouTube that you just couldn’t live without? Cat videos are great and all, but this Betabeat reporter can’t even be bothered to cough up the cash for Hulu Plus. And yet it seems the video platform is just bound and determined to make subscriptions happen: Ad Age reports that after much teasing, YouTube is asking channel producers (it’s unclear which ones) to apply to create paid channels.

Sources tell Ad Age that the first paid channels will cost between $1 and $5, and YouTube is also looking at ways to charge for “content libraries and access to live events, a la pay-per-view, as well as self-help or financial advice shows.” But would a personal finance guru sign off on your paying $1 a month for YouTube videos? That’s what they call a conundrum, friends. Read More

By Kelly Faircloth 10/22/12 11:40am

Dead Trees

Not the business it used to be. (Photo: flickr.com/johnf49)

You Think Crash-Landing a Startup Sucks? Try Running a Magazine Into the Ground

The sheer churn-and-burn of the startup scene can be grueling: Some hot new company is always ascendant, and some formerly hot new company is always headed for the ash heap of history. Ever wanted to just chuck it all and retreat to the more stable environs of an old-fashioned profession like, say, magazines?

Now, before you begin laughing, its worth first considering this Ad Age paen to this year’s honorees for the magazine’s A-List Awards, which asks, “Would You Rather Own a Magazine or a Digital Startup?” The subtitle clarifies, “That is not a trick question,” and the article goes on to point out that for every Newsweek, there’s a Marie Claire doing a brisk business in ad pages. The conclusion: “You probably won’t read about that on TechCrunch or Mashable, but you’re reading it right here.”

Felix Salmon promptly replied with a long, measured answer that basically amounts to “digital startups for $800, Alex.” Read More

By Adrianne Jeffries 8/23/11 9:27am

Popular Attitudes

newspaper breakfast table

6 Percent of Online News Readers ‘Always’ Comment on Stories, Compared to 37 Percent Who ‘Never’ Do

And they keep the Huffington Post alive. With engagement being the future of news publishing and all that, Ad Age surveyed 1,003 households on their attitudes toward commenting on news stories. Of all those surveyed, six percent said they “always” comment on a news story, compared to 37 percent who say they “never” do.  Read More

By Adrianne Jeffries 1/12/11 1:29am

Ad-Tech

The long arms of social media have embraced Jon Bond

Social Media’s Tentacles Have Grasped Jon Bond

Longtime advertising executive Jon Bond has joined the social media marketing agency Big Fuel Communications as CEO, showing that even veterans of Madison Ave. are betting on the marketing powers of Facebook and Twitter.

Social media marketing got a boost after Old Spice shook heaven and earth with a series of YouTube Read More