Welcome to the 29th episode of “The Mediatwits,” the weekly audio podcast from MediaShift. The co-hosts are MediaShift’s Mark Glaser and Rafat Ali. This week we get back from the Thanksgiving holiday and find some interesting mergers happening. First, there’s the crowdfunding site Spot.us being acquired by American Public Media (APM) and its Public Insight Network. Guests David Cohn, founder of Spot.us, and Joaquin Alvarado of APM talk about the acquisition and what it means for Spot.us and the future of public media.
Then came news that billionaire Warren Buffett had bought his hometown newspaper, the Omaha World-Herald, for $150 million, as well as some Nebraska papers for $50 million more. Has he gone crazy, or is he crazy like a fox? And finally an HBO exec says they won’t be offering up a digital-only package of content directly to people who have cut the cord to cable. But how will that play to the increasing number of folks who don’t even have TV sets, and get their entertainment via streaming services or websites?
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Intro and outro music by 3 Feet Up; mid-podcast music by Autumn Eyes via Mevio’s Music Alley.
Here are some highlighted topics from the show:
Intro
1:30: Rafat visits the Ignition conference in New York
3:20: Rundown of topics on the show
Spot.us acquired by American Public Media
4:40: Crowdfunding pioneer moves to APM
5:20: Special guests David Cohn and Joaquin Alvarado
7:20: Cohn: Takes 10% of donations, plus sponsorships
9:00: Alvarado: Spot.us helps bring strong freelancers to newsrooms
12:30: Alvarado: Trust and community support important to public media
15:20: PRX worked with Spot.us in a pilot partnership
16:30: Cohn will remain as a contractor for APM
Buffett buys newspaper
17:30: Buffett buys Omaha World-Herald for $150 million
19:00: Mark: Not all newspapers are screwed
HBO won’t cater to cord-cutters
21:40: Rafat: HBO now on Roku box, but requires cable subscription
23:00: Mark: People will pay a reasonable amount for shows, but don’t want cable
More Reading
Spot.us Merges with Public Insight Network at Idea Lab
Spot.us Merges With The Public Insight Network at 10,000 Words
American Public Media Acquires Journalism Crowdfunding Service at Adweek
American Public Media’s Public Insight Network
Oracle of Omaha Buys His Hometown Paper at PaidContent
Buffett buys a newspaper. Time to invest in news? at Christian Science Monitor
HBO To Cord Cutters: You’ll Never See Our Shows at PaidContent
For first time in history, TV ownership declines at Kansas City Star
TVs or not TVs: Sets declining at NY Post
Weekly Poll
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Mark Glaser is executive editor of MediaShift and Idea Lab. He also writes the bi-weekly OPA Intelligence Report email newsletter for the Online Publishers Association. He lives in San Francisco with his son Julian. You can follow him on Twitter @mediatwit. and Circle him on Google+