There are now more Americans working for online-only outlets than newspapers | Hacker News Reader

There are now more Americans working for online-only outlets than newspapers

niemanlab.org

103 pointskawera29 comments

The relatively consistent number of jobs in broadcast television is surprising to me. I would have imagined video streaming would cut into broadcast television the same way online publications cut into newspapers. Services like Netflix have made watching broadcast television almost unbearable due to the obscene amount of advertising.

What do you think they are streaming? For the most part, it seems to be content produced and monetized by the traditional broadcast houses.

> I would have imagined video streaming would cut into broadcast television the same way online publications cut into newspapers.

Newspapers were declining through consolidation, scaling back local newsrooms in favor of wire-service and syndicated content, etc., long (as in, consistently for decades) before online publications stepped in to fill the gaps newspapers were leaving as they contracted and collapsed.

Not to mention Craigslist and eBay destroyed a huge chunk of newspapers' revenue streams.

The online publications are replacing newspapers for people. I have a RSS reader. My parents found that they prefer getting the news online and on OTA broadcast TV. They used to get the paper daily, but now only get the Sunday paper for the coupons that it includes. They have it on a 99 cent a week promotion. That is a an order of magnitude less than the >$500 per year that they used to pay. They find having only 1 paper a week to recycle more convenient too.

Annoying come winter when you need to start the fire though.

It doesn't help that broadcast ads scrape the absolute bottom of the barrel, and go on FOREVER.

I've found the class of "doctors HATE him" banner ads to be worse than broadcast TV ads. A Kia Sorrento ad will at least have some pretty scenery.

uBlock Origin, Ghostery, Scriptblocker. What ads?

I'm still amazed the TiVo revolution didn't completely hamstring broadcast display-ad markets.

Do people still watch live TV without DVRs?

I think a lot of people watch TV to vegetate, not because they are interested in particular shows.

I think online streaming largely replaced the need to use DVR for anything other than rewinding-live-tv-while-I'm-the-bathroom.

commercials have their uses: bathroom breaks, quick runs to the kitchen, making sure the brats are in bed, let the dog out, let the dog in, and most important, discussing the show as it has transpired thus far.

but I suspect that for many people once the channel is set they really don't want to have to do much more than change the volume. it simply is not worth the investment and I would bet a majority don't have a dvr

A simple, cheap DVR that works with OTA doesn't exit does it?

Tivo does sell one, unsure of pricing or if it requires their subscription or not though. I believe it's called TiVo Bolt.

I would be happy if either my Ceton InfiniTV 4 or HDHomeRun prime worked with OTA signals, but neither do. :/

event the DVR became too much work, constantly having to interact with the tv.

I just switched to TCM, which doesnt play commercials in the middle of movies. problem solved.

Nearly everyone I know who's over 35.

My parents do.

People watch(ed) TV not for the actual content but just to pass the time. It was mostly channel surfing and once in a while you'd find a show that you wanted to watch all the way through. It was just something to do rather than actually consume a story line. Netflix has made consuming actual stories much much better and easier.

I don't know the actual statistics, but I get the impression that the abandoning of broadcast/cable/dish TV is limited to the young and the well-off.

This is a deceiving comparison.

It'd be like saying "more people now own bicycles than cars".

Sure, both cars and bicycles address the "transportation" marketplace. But one can be sold to 5 year old kids, where the other requires you to have state license and age requirements.

Is not really a fair comparison.

I don't really understand the analogy.

Are you saying kids are more likely to read paper newspapers than online sources? I would think the opposite is more likely true. Or if you were saying the opposite...doesn't that support the point of the article?

Yeah, I get all news articles from my facebook timeline.

The barrier of entry for writing for websites nowadays is lower than writing for a newspaper.

Plus, there's just the incredible quality of the work they do https://hackaday.com/author/dammitcoetzee/ ;)

Om related news, the paperless office is pretty much here.

In paid jobs? In full-time paid jobs?

Thanks, tronc

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