Newspapers bridge the Gap with Yahoo! via Newspaper Consortium leader, Michael Silver

Picked up news from Scott Anderson’s blog about Michael Silver being named lead to work with the Newspaper Consortium and Yahoo to “develop new
opportunities for the Consortium across the digital media
landscape, as
well as to grow the Consortium’s existing relationship with
Yahoo! across
content and advertising.” 

Translating from the corporatespeak, I’d read to mean his job is to:

  • Watch the fox in the henhouse
  • Deliver more content to Yahoo! for clicks back and new uniques from newspaper partners
  • Get more content from Yahoo to get more ad inventory and high value content–think Oscars packages and Personal Finance stories on video
  • Manage ad rates and splits on special packages for big CPG advertisers (this is 2003 AOL all over again)
  • Evaluate whether there is some new Yahoo! technology or acquisition that has to get popped onto Newspaper sites right now (!) (Clearly, newspapers are going to miss FireEagle unless Yahoo! builds them something specific.)
  • Oversee the legal agreements (I’d translate this to mean addressing newspapers that want to make other alliances).

The press release reminds us of the following useful faces

  • There are 30 companies in the Newspaper Consortium that represent 779 local newspapers
  • That equals 32 percent of all U.S. dailies and 41 percent of all
    U.S. Sunday
    circulation.
  • Hot Jobs is the crown jewel on both sides(and it’s a great model)
  • Yahoo’s partners are–A.H. Belo Corporation,
    Bakersfield
    Californian, Black Press, Buffalo News, Calkins Media, Inc.,
    Columbus
    Dispatch, The Columbian Publishing Company, Cox Newspapers,
    The Day
    Publishing Company, The E.W. Scripps Company, GateHouse
    Media, Inc., Hearst
    Newspapers, Herald Media, Inc., Journal Register Company,
    Journal Sentinel,
    Lee Enterprises, McClatchy Company, Media General, Inc.,
    MediaNews Group,
    Inc., Morris Communications Company LLC, New York Daily
    News, New York
    Times Regional Group, Paddock Publications Inc, Paxton Media
    Group,
    Philadelphia Media Holdings LLC, Shaw Newspapers, Sun Times
    News Group,
    Times-Shamrock Communications, The Times Publishing Company,  the Tribune
    Review Publishing Company.