Comparing 4 low-cost turn-key local media platforms

Companies like Zope, Townnews, Matchbin and Creative Circle Advertising Solutions all provide low-cost platforms for local media companies. Here are the main differences between them.

Townnews
The most unique feature of the Blox platform, created by TownNews,  is the ability for editors to redesign pages on the fly, including moving around photos and videos in blocks — that is “blox” — on the page. The platform is currently being used now by the Press Democrat in Atlantic City and the St. Louis Post Dispatch, in addition to about 50 newspaper sites. 

Blox CMS, released by Townnews charges a monthly fee between $150 and $5000, with small dailies paying in the $1500 a month range.

The system allows all assets (html, documents and video) to be pulled from a single database, using an extensive tagging system. Video is “baked in” to the CMS through a partnership with Vmix.

Townnews has several site blueprints — basic templates with moveable and programmable “blox” — to customize.

Pull-down windows allow editors to schedule when stories appear and how the site dynamically changes.

Townnews also owns a majority of the Job Network, which partially integrates with its classifieds. The ”yellow page” directory comes with a pre-populated database that is part of a national database and has self-serve upsells and mapping included. There is also an interactive photo gallery which allows readers to post directly into the system; Adsys adserving system; a user-based community events calendar; a system to sell remnant space to adnetworks; access to movie trailers; E-editions; mailing list software; online registration and tools for blogs. There is no built in output to mobile.

Another unique feature is  “swat” team of ten field sales trainers who work with the client media’s sales representatives to sell bundled packages and train in online ad design. Other software companies don't provide this kind of intensive training.

Zope

 Zope offers a similar system and price point.  It's strong suit is running multiple sites (from radio to newspaper) on a single integrated system.

CEO Robert Page, whose background is in software development, not newspapers, contends that templating between multiple sites creates huge efficiencies for large companies and better price points for smaller ones. Its largest client, Gatehouse Media, has 450 newspaper sites running on Zope. Because of centralization, the smallest site in the network costs just $150 a month to operate.

“There are three people who are the technical brains; no one can come close to having three people maintain 450 sites without this kind of templating and infrastucture,” Page said. Pricing is indexed to circulation rather than traffic.

Advertisers can now be provisioned with a business directory listing, microsite, coupons, sms delivery and a small business newsletter using one integrated component. They can also see their analytics and responses using a dashboard.

Page says his company is also unique in allowing media companies to let their own devleopers work on the site. A common complaint about hosted software is having to “get in line” to access expensive developers if a custom feature is required.

Matchbin

Matchbin.com uses a different, unique business model. The company charges a set up fee in the $5000 range, but no licensing or hosting fees. It does take a revenue share of its self-serve directory at $10 per sold listing and some local media companies just sign up for the directory.

Matchbin's sites have a templated look to the sites, which roll-up in a national network. The star of the site is the directory, which some sites have chosen to use in combination with a different platform.

Video, is not a component of the site, and the content is not dynamic.

“It’s an interesting business model,” Page says. “Media companies in defensive mode go to a revenue share model because there is no upfront cost. We’ll see what happens down the line.”

Creative Circle

Finally, mediasiteQ from Creative Circle Media Solutions provides another easy to use platform (which drives this site, excluding the directory).

A big advantage of Creative Circle is the design team that creates their sites.  As a leading design team in the industry, Creative Circle sites don't look alike. They typically customize design and often functionality.  For example, one of its media partners in Bermuda  wanted  "concierge service" that lets tourists ask for information and Creative Circle built a special section of the CMS to accomodate it.

Creative Circle's  CEO, Bill Ostendorf,  is a well known consultant and as a result claims the company is consistently ahead of industry trends. "Our goal is to supply top-tier features at mid-tier prices, and we try to focus on the user experience and do things no one has done yet."

Setup fees start at $2,500 and range to $50,000 or more, depending on the complexity of the site. Monthly fees range from $200 to several thousand based on traffic and the size of the database.

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