The Herald

[UNDColorado]

10 minutes ago, nodak651 said:

Yeah, I just dont get it, because a huge percent of their sports readers probably aren't even local anymore, right?  Hopefully they know their stats.

Their core audience is local. It is a college town so of course there is a dedicated out of town / state readership. However, it's not a tourism market where mine is 70% non local / 30% local website traffic. I would guess they are the opposite. Regardless, monetizing without a paywall is very possible, just a different strategy.

Edit- By local I mean the immediate region (GF, Grafton, TRF, ETC) because they are a regional newspaper. 

[Nodak78]

1 hour ago, UNDColorado said:

Their core audience is local. It is a college town so of course there is a dedicated out of town / state readership. However, it's not a tourism market where mine is 70% non local / 30% local website traffic. I would guess they are the opposite. Regardless, monetizing without a paywall is very possible, just a different strategy.

Edit- By local I mean the immediate region (GF, Grafton, TRF, ETC) because they are a regional newspaper. 

If don't have a database of each one of us individually and our wants and needs, they are years behind schedule.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

6 hours ago, gfhockey said:

Schloss is waiting till the fcc starts Charging before he gives the scoop

Not long until he starts tweeting cryptic lead-ins to the articles behind the paywall.

[NoiseInsideMyHead]

1 hour ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

Not long until he starts tweeting cryptic lead-ins to the articles behind the paywall.

So what must it be like to be Brad?  He has single-handedly (IMHO) propped up the GFH's online revenue streams to date with UND hockey coverage, and if they change their delivery model to online subscriber only, their success or failure will likely be as tied to him as any other single factor.  I have to believe that he's torn about the whole thing.

They might as well change their name to the Brad Forks Herald.

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

48 minutes ago, NoiseInsideMyHead said:

So what must it be like to be Brad?  He has single-handedly (IMHO) propped up the GFH's online revenue streams to date with UND hockey coverage, and if they change their delivery model to online subscriber only, their success or failure will likely be as tied to him as any other single factor.  I have to believe that he's torn about the whole thing.

They might as well change their name to the Brad Forks Herald.

He always wears GF Herald gear when being interviewed, not sure what all can be deduced from that but it's definitely a sign of loyalty.

Forum may employ the beat writer but they don't control the feed. I'm not paying more to read about it than to watch the games and highlights. 

[Goon]

16 hours ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

He always wears GF Herald gear when being interviewed, not sure what all can be deduced from that but it's definitely a sign of loyalty.

Forum may employ the beat writer but they don't control the feed. I'm not paying more to read about it than to watch the games and highlights. 

it's called a work uniform. IRC, for a previous conversation, the Grand Forks Herald has a dress code. 

[ChadR]

1 hour ago, Goon said:

it's called a work uniform. The Herald has a dress code.

Didn't know you worked in HR there? 

[Goon]

24 minutes ago, ChadR said:

Didn't know you worked in HR there? 

No, but it's kind of dumb to bag on Brad for wearing a Grand Forks Herald shirt for a video for the paper. What would you like him to wear? I would assume most of us have a dress code for work or some kind of a uniform/approved wear unless you work out of your home for a virtual job. Life must be pretty good if we're worrying about what Schloss is wearing. HS, it's time for the season to begin. 

 

[fightingsioux4life]

6 minutes ago, Goon said:

No, but it's kind of dumb to bag on Brad for wearing a Grand Forks Herald shirt for a video for the paper. What would you like him to wear? I would assume most of us have a dress code for work or some kind of a uniform/approved wear unless you work out of your home for a virtual job. Life must be pretty good if we're worrying about what Schloss is wearing. HS, it's time for the season to begin. 

He wears a suit for home games. I have passed him in the concourse a few times.

[Goon]

2 minutes ago, fightingsioux4life said:

He wears a suit for home games. I have passed him in the concourse a few times.

Sometimes, he wears a Herald shirt under his blazer. It depends. I have seen him wear the shirt in question  many times. 

[tnt]

53 minutes ago, Goon said:

No, but it's kind of dumb to bag on Brad for wearing a Grand Forks Herald shirt for a video for the paper. What would you like him to wear? I would assume most of us have a dress code for work or some kind of a uniform/approved wear unless you work out of your home for a virtual job. Life must be pretty good if we're worrying about what Schloss is wearing. HS, it's time for the season to begin. 

 

Where was someone bagging on Brad?

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

1 hour ago, Goon said:

No, but it's kind of dumb to bag on Brad for wearing a Grand Forks Herald shirt for a video for the paper. What would you like him to wear? I would assume most of us have a dress code for work or some kind of a uniform/approved wear unless you work out of your home for a virtual job. Life must be pretty good if we're worrying about what Schloss is wearing. HS, it's time for the season to begin. 

 

I literally followed the observation up with "not sure what can be deduced from it". He's the only journalist I observe wearing his employer's logo so it sticks out to me.

That's also the least important part of the discussion. Not sure why that got such a rise out of you. The team's coverage will soon be much less accessible to the public, and that is what matters.

[Goon]

13 minutes ago, AlphaMikeFoxtrot said:

I literally followed the observation up with "not sure what can be deduced from it". He's the only journalist I observe wearing his employer's logo so it sticks out to me.

That's also the least important part of the discussion. Not sure why that got such a rise out of you. The team's coverage will soon be much less accessible to the public, and that is what matters.

Yeah, that's a decision $9.99 a month is a bit steep. 

[Blackheart]

1 minute ago, Goon said:

Yeah, that's a decision $9.99 a month is a bit steep. 

I might pay $9.99 a year for the Herald...

[Frozen4sioux]

8 hours ago, Blackheart said:

I might pay $9.99 a year for the Herald...

Torn a bit here, I wouldnt pay 9.99 a year for the Forumn, or the Bis trib, or the Herald, except for Schloss... Hes the outlier, I do believe he is worth $10 a year, He deserves to be paid for his work which is quite good.......

but $10 a month, to still be bombarded with Ads, malware, and junk? 

No.

I get the entire Athletic stable of writers for what $6 a month?

 

[Blackheart]

7 hours ago, Frozen4sioux said:

Torn a bit here, I wouldnt pay 9.99 a year for the Forumn, or the Bis trib, or the Herald, except for Schloss... Hes the outlier, I do believe he is worth $10 a year, He deserves to be paid for his work which is quite good.......

but $10 a month, to still be bombarded with Ads, malware, and junk? 

No.

I get the entire Athletic stable of writers for what $6 a month?

 

True...but the Herald will give you valuable insight on Gofer hockey and Bizon football as well!

[InHeavenThereIsNoBeer]

I actually think the Herald was way too slow at instituting the pay wall.  Now they have done it too late and for too high a rate rather than slowly ramping it up and attracting better writers with the additional revenue.  Here's how I see the conundrum at GFH.

1. They needs better writing(outside of a few exceptions)

2. To get better writing they need to pay more competitively

3. To pay more competitively to attract quality writers they need to increase revenue

3. To justify a pay wall to increase revenue, they need better writers

[AlphaMikeFoxtrot]

48 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

I actually think the Herald was way too slow at instituting the pay wall.  Now they have done it too late and for too high a rate rather than slowly ramping it up and attracting better writers with the additional revenue.  Here's how I see the conundrum at GFH.

1. They needs better writing(outside of a few exceptions)

2. To get better writing they need to pay more competitively

3. To pay more competitively to attract quality writers they need to increase revenue

3. To justify a pay wall to increase revenue, they need better writers

Another issue with starting to charge so late is subscription fatigue. People are already subscribing to so many services these days; I'm always leery to add another given how under-utilized some of them are in my household.

It's also hard to justify subscribing if you don't live in the area. The only articles not about hockey I read are the WaPo ones they have in syndication, which saved me from having to subscribe to that. Guess which of the two I'll probably subscribe to now.

Also, will there be some free articles monthly, or 100% paywall? Most are like the former, but with the poor decision-making at Forum, the latter wouldn't surprise me.

[Siouxperior]

40 minutes ago, InHeavenThereIsNoBeer said:

1. They needs better writing(outside of a few exceptions)

Don't bother applying.

[Siouxphan27]

15 minutes ago, Siouxperior said:

Don't bother applying.

[Siouxphan27]

 I wish Brad would wear a fur coat, no pants, sandals, and a fedora for his video interviews. 

[UNDColorado]

$9.99 per month is way too steep. I go on their website and they are not even selling their own advertising inventory. The ads I see are remnant which bring in an average $2.00 CPM (cost per thousand) whereas if they made an effort to sell their own ads they could pull in a $10 CPM. 

[northernraider]

2 minutes ago, UNDColorado said:

$9.99 per month is way too steep. I go on their website and they are not even selling their own advertising inventory. The ads I see are remnant which bring in an average $2.00 CPM (cost per thousand) whereas if they made an effort to sell their own ads they could pull in a $10 CPM. 

It looks like $9.99 a month includes access to all the Forum newspapers, that is certainly a better deal than single paper. 

[UNDColorado]

30 minutes ago, northernraider said:

It looks like $9.99 a month includes access to all the Forum newspapers, that is certainly a better deal than single paper. 

That is a better deal but personally I'm only interested in the Herald. I imagine that i'm not the only one with this view.

[CMSioux]

3 hours ago, Blackheart said:

True...but the Herald will give you valuable insight on Gofer hockey and Bizon football as well!

And every member of the former UND Women's Hockey Team.