TMZ is a celebrity news site that ranked No. 4 in the latest Nielsen Online ratings (released this week) for the top 10 blogs in the U.S., with 8 million unique visitors, nearly twice as much as TheHuffingtonPost.
To that end, hearing what Alan Citron, TMZ's general manager, is doing to change the news paradigm and attract such an audience is worth noting. I caught up with Alan last week in Hollywood at the OnHollywood conference hosted by AlwaysOn. In this video interview, Alan talks about how news is changing. The top two trends he sees are: 1) More intense news coverage as a plethora of voices uncover tidbits of information 2) The rise of live streaming events. Demand for more live streaming should be good news for companies like NowLive, a hoster/enabler of live events.
Besides this on-camera interview, here's a transcript of an interview I did with Alan to prepare for our panel on the New, new news model at OnHollywood. (This interview is similar to the ones I did with Chris Tolles, CEO of Topix, and Dan Farber, Editor in Chief, CNet.
BF: Can you tell me a bit more about TMZ? How are you changing the news business paradigm?
Alan: TMZ is one of the most successful online news start-ups in recent times, largely because of it’s 24/7 reporting and gritty style. It first gained attention for raw video footage of celebrities and later became known for a series of exclusive stories, such as Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitic remarks after a DUI arrest and Michael Kramer’s racist rant at a comedy club. It’s been been the #1 ranked entertainment news site for most of the past year and a half and has caused others in our space, including print and TV, to change how they cover the business.
BF: Name three major trends in the news business (besides the fact that the audience is fragmenting and more people are getting news online and from multiple sources)
Alan: 24/7 reporting, News nuggets instead of stories, More video
BF: What do the changes at the Journal - starting to look a lot like USA Today and NYTimes combined - underscore about the changing news landscape?
Alan: In an unsettled environment, there are land grabs.
BF: What news outlets do you admire? Who's doing it right and what are they doing?
Alan: No one’s nailed it. NYT has the best web site among old media. The problem is, old media still treats the web like a subset of print. HuffPost and Drudge are both compelling new media products.
BF: Who's making money in news today, and why?
Alan: The WSJ Online is supposed to be very profitable. Some bloggers also do well because their costs are so low.
BF: How are you producing the content? To what extent do you count on bloggers, freelancers and/or wannabe pundits who enjoy opining and have a lot of free time on their hands?
Alan: We rely on our staff.
BF: What payment models are you incorporating to incentivize contributors/writers/producers/editors?
Alan: Our staff is on straight salary.
BF: Who's breaking the news these days?
Alan: Everyone
BF: Who's distributing the news these days? CBS, Google or Twitter?
Alan: It doesn’t matter. Users are customizing news feeds to fit their interests.
BF: How are the changes in the news industry affecting your business negatively/positively and what are you doing about it?
Alan: It’s all positive from our perspective.
BF: Seems big media companies thought about getting into the ad-network game - Reuters, Wired - but they've dropped that initiative. Are creating ad networks of small bloggers a tough business?
Alan: Ad networks drag down CPMs. Companies should maximize value by selling their properties individually.
BF: How do you make money?
Alan: Advertising.
BF: You say: TMZ has "been been the #1 ranked entertainment news site for most of the past year and a half and has caused others in our space, including print and TV, to change how they cover the business." - How has TMZ caused others to change the way they cover business? And, who's "others" in your space?
Alan: TMZ is part of a larger phenomenon of web sites breaking old news cycles. Previously, if People or EW got a hot celeb picture, they could sit on it till their publishing deadline. Now, that picture is likely to pop up on the Internet immediately. So, they have to work harder to find fresh content to fill their pages. Similarly, TV strips like ET and Access Hollywood, which are put to bed mid-day, often miss late-breaking news. Most of them have updated their web sites and adopted the blog format to augment their coverage.
BF: Are you in the breaking news business? And, if everyone is in the breaking-news business, how are you trying to add value? Or what's working?
Alan: We’re all in the breaking news business. And what works is breaking more news than your competitors. The most aggressive, reliable sites will win the day.
BF: TV was a marketing engine for our Web strategy when I was at MarketWatch. Is the TV strategy driving traffic to your site? Essentially, is it the Web serving the Web? Or, is it the Web serving TV.
Alan: They seem to be driving each other. Keep in mind that we’re half owned by AOL, so a significant percentage of Internet traffic comes from them. The web site, in turn, promotes the TV show.
BF: Thanks, Alan
This is an amazing interview.
The Internet landscape is rapidly shifting and the future is without question, local, local, local. You can not get "to deep" into a locale. I foresee several mini-media companies who own and operate within local regions/cities/states via Live Broadcasting, social networking and Vlogs. (competitively focused around dot TV).
In today's world, tech advances, cost efficient development, broadband, etc makes it a reality for a small organization to compete directly with a local NBC/ABC/FOX/CBS affiliate. Until now, this wasn't even a possibility, which basically means (in my opinion), the next 48 months is going to be very, very interesting and exciting for everyone involved.
uStream.TV and Mogulus.com are prime examples of the "next generation" of news content delivery. It's no surprise Microsoft wants to acquire uStream.TV, as they will instantly be "players" in the Live Broadcasting/Social Networking "local" space. (future of media). (reports say they declined $50 million)
Everything is Local. (google, yahoo, msn, Marchex, etc.,)
80% of every dollar earned and spent by nearly every person on the planet earth is done so within 20 miles of their home or business. This is why the GEO domain name industry is on fire right now and many people/investors/developers want to be part of it...
Remember, everything online starts with a Domain Name... This is exactly why generic GEO domains as in "Jacksonville.TV, Indiana.TV, MaconNews.TV, etc.," are simply priceless. These domains are the most valuable property in the world, and when developed, the sky is limit. The truth is the dot com counterparts are generating anywhere from $xxx,xxx - $30 million dollars a year, MyrtleBeach.com, $2 million in revenue, Jacksonville.com $x-xx millions PER YEAR. There is a reason for this...
People not only identify with "local", but the generic form, is searched around the world for a variety of reasons. Although their are several alternatives, (DiscoverJacksonville, GoJacksonville, VisitJacksonville, TravelJacksonville, JacksonvilleTravel, iJacksonville, eJacksonville, myJacksonville, ChannelJacksonville, etc...) their are only (2) generics. 1) Jacksonville.TV and JackonvilleFlorida.TV.
...They *are "THE" brand. Why would anyone build a business on an alternative just to lose traffic, credibility and work twice as hard during the sales process/pitch?
"Hello, my name is John Doe, I'm here to talk with you about "DiscoverJacksonville.TV.
OR.
"Hello, my name is John Doe, I'm here to talk with you about our company, Jacksonville.TV! (instant branding, credibility etc.,)
The value? If you look at the data-mining below, you will see why generic GEO domains, and generic GEO "news" domains are so powerful, and why BILLION dollar media companies can't get enough of them.
ABC
www.Spokane.TV www.Nebraska.TV (4 times the traffic as Nebraska.com)
www.Macon.TV
CBS/NBC/FOX:
LX.TV (NBC, acquired for $10+ million)
AustinNews.com (Redirects to NBC, KXAN.com)
2news.TV
NewsChannel5.TV
Fox417.TV
NBC4.TV
WABI.TV
KGWN.TV
CBS19.TV
CBS47.TV
CBSCares.TV
CITY OWNED:
Modesto.TV
OklahomaCity.TV
ChulaVista.TV
Glendale.TV
Anaheim.TV
CoralSprings.TV
Tuscaloosa.com
Which MEDIA companies "get it", and who is leading the race?
LandmarkCommunications.com/*Chris Kouba (VP of Interactive)
Roanoke.com
Norfolk.com (Redirects to HamptonRoads.com)
HamptonRoads.com
Hampton.TV
HamptonRoads.TV
Baltimore.TV
Richmond.TV
Virginia.TV*
Seattle.TV*
LittleRock.TV*
Memphis.TV*
Atlanta.TV*
Buffalo.TV*
Syracuse.TV*
Tampa.TV*
Norfolk.TV*
McclatchyInteractive.com
Alaska.com 1995
Kansas.com (The Wichita Eagle) 1995
Kentucky.com (Lexington Herald-Leader) 1998
Miami.com (The Miami-Hearld)
Charlotte.com (The Charlotte Observer)
CharlotteNews.com (Dead Link)
KansasCity.com (The Kansas City Star)
Bradenton.com (Bradenton Herald)
Macon.com (The Telegraph)
CaryNews.com (Cary, North Carolina)
ChapelHill.com (Redirects to ChapelHillNews.com?)
ChapelHillNews.com (Chapel Hill, North Carolina)
Anchorage.com (Redirects to ADN.com)
AnchorageNews.com (Redirects to ADN.com)
Biloxi.com (Redirects to SunHerald.com?)
Biloxi-Gulfport.com.com (Dead Link)
Telepathy.com
Maryland.com 1995
Missouri.com 1995
NorthCarolina.com 1995
Pennsylvania.com 1997
Virginia.com 1996
Gannett.com
Michigan.com 1995
Hawaii.com 1989
Cincinnati.com (The Cincinnati Enquirer)
NKY.com (Norther Kentucky/Greater Cincinnati)
Boston.com (The Boston Globe, NYT)
Tallahassee.com (Tallahasse Democrat)
Indy.com (The Indianapolis Star)
Gainesville.com (The Gainesville Sun, NYT)
Ocala.com (The Star-Banner, NYT)
TuscaloosaNews.com (The Tuscaloosa News)
DelawareNews.com (Dead Link)
Morris Publishing Group
Amarillo.com (The Amarillo Globe-News)
Augusta.com (The Augusta Chronicle)
AugustaNews.com (Dead Link)
Jacksonville.com (The Florida Times-Union)
StAugustine.com (The St. Augustine Record)
MediaGeneral.com
TriCities.com
BristolNews.com (Bristol.com is owned by HP.com, Hewlett-Packard)
RaleighDurham.TV (NBC 17)
RaycomMedia.com
( 0 )
Greenspun Media
LasVegas.com
Vegas.com
LAS.TV
Pappas Telecasting Companies
(PappasTV.com)
Nebraska.TV
The E. W. Scripps Company
Redding.com (The Record Searchlight)
RockyMountainNews.com (Rocky Mountain News)
NaplesNews.com (Naples Daily News)
KnoxNews.com (Knoxville Daily-Sentinel)
CorpusChristiNews.com (Redirects to Caller.com)
Freedom Communications, Inc
Destin.com (The Destin Log)
LimaOhio.com (The Lima News)
Kinston.com (Kinston Free Press)
"StateNEWS" Sales:
NorthCarolinaNews.com $54,395
PennsylvaniaNews.com $49,595
OklahomaNews.com $47,995
AlabamaNews.com $25,000
IndianaNews.com $22,000
KentuckyNews.com $21,000
MarylandNews.com $15,000
MississippiNews.com $9,400
TennesseeNews.com $5,500
MassachusettsNews.com $4,100
NorthDakotaNews.com $4,000
NebraskaNews.com $2,100
NewHavenNews.com $26,000
NottinghamNews.com $23,995
SheffieldNews.com $15,995
AustinNews.com $15,000
CanadaNews.com $11,000
AnaheimNews.com $9,595
LeicesterNews.com $9,595
NetherlandsNews.com $9,595
SaoPauloNews.com $7,995
CardiffNews.com $7,195
ColombiaNews.com $5,900
StPetersburgNews.com $5,600
YokohamaNews.com $4,795
CamdenNews.com $4,040
PatersonNews.com $3,995
PasadenaNews.com $3,530
SunnyvaleNews.com $3,500
BrantfordNews.com $3,195
Others to note:
DallasNews.com (Dallas Morning News)
DetroitNews.com (The Detroit News)
AustinNews.com (KXAN.com-NBC)
TulsaNews.com (KJRH.com-NBC)
SanDiegoNews.com (Redirects to SignOnSanDiego.com, The San Diego-Union-Tribune
SanAntonioNews.com (Cummings Hatton Corporation)
BuffaloNews.com (The Buffalo News, Buffalo.com)
DCNews.com (Institutional Investor Magazine)
MilwaukeeNews.com/WisconsinNews.com (Media Insight, JSonline.com)
OhioNews.org (Ohio Newspaper Association)
TampaBayNews.Net (Redirects to ABCActionNews.com)
MaineNews.com (Owned by WABI.TV
MaconNews.com (Macon County News)
OregonNews.com (NR Today)
BuffaloNews.com (The Buffalo News)
IdahoNews.com (Idaho Post-Register)