Recent reads -- The Education of a Coach

The Education of a Coach
David Halberstam

I seem to be on a football kick lately. Maybe that's because my three sons are all playing and have started to become big fans.

I am not a big fan of Belichick. Seems a rather brusque, rude character. But that's not my problem since I don't play for him. But I do have great admiration for his success. Reading this book has made me a bit more sympathetic to him and his ways.

An interesting look at a driven man. But at what cost? He and his wife divorced in 2005 and he lives and breathes the sport.

Reminds me of a time I was talking to Dennis Conner and told him how impressive it was he had devoted so much time and effort to his success. His response, after a long pause, was that it was sad. All he knew, he said, was how to sail. He had devoted so much energy to one thing he had no other interests.

Don't kill TV just yet

While everyone is predicting the demise of print publications due to the Internet (and there may be some truth to some of it) it's not such a sure thing when it comes to TV.
Convergence Consulting released a report yesterday showing that online viewership is not as great as people think. According to the Wall Street Journal:

Broadcasters that put their TV shows online have seen about 5% of their TV base watching the online streams; cable networks such as MTV see about 15% of their audiences watching shows online. Given the audience size, there is no assurance of similar advertising returns from online video.

According to the report:

The average household spends approximately $.20/hour to watch TV. Broadcasters would have to charge much more for a paid download to equal what they receive in advertising revenue for an average TV show episode. If Broadcasters charge less and also rely on Internet advertising, they face lower CPM rates than TV.

Tipping point

Child is the latest to go from print to online only.

Earlier in the week we saw InfoWorld switch.

Not surprising to see InfoWorld make the switch. They were one of the first print publications to create a Web site (1994). Interesting, though, that Child has made the switch. They don't cater to a young (teenage) crowd and it's not about technology.

My sense is you will see a bunch of print publications make the switch real soon.

Recent reads -- The Blind Side

The Blind Side
Michael Lewis

Even if you're not a football fan, a good read. Story about a black homeless boy in Memphis who is adopted by a white family and saved by football.
If you're a football fan, a great study of how the game has changed in recent years.

Is "outrage" the right word?

Every other article about newspapers/magazines is about how they are dying a slow death and something better be done quickly.

Then something new is tried, such as the LA Times' experiment with guest editors. Then come the howls of protest.

It's no secret something needs to be done to increase either the readership or revenue of newspapers. While it's too early to tell if the Times' experiment will work or not, it's also too early to call it a mistake.

I am sensitive to the perception that this hurts the Times' objectivity. But I am also aware fewer and fewer people read papers. And I also wonder how much that objectivity is truly valued.

UPDATE (March 28): Turns out the whole idea was killed due to a previously undisclosed relationship between the editor of the section and the PR person for the contributor. Still -- I think newspapers need to be more open to such ideas.

Once again, an explanation

Time has launched a new design and just as the WSJ did a few months ago, management feels compelled to explain why they're doing this. Seems a redesign should not have to be justified, nor explained. It should be like walking into a well-designed house. It should just make sense.

No explanation necessary, except for the few who are in the trade.

At least Time spared us the pages of explanation of how the new design works. But they should have gone all the way and skipped the editorial explaining why.