Kennedy-Spaien, Dot Com

I just got in from a drive. I was listening to NPR (which I always do unless listening to a Librivox Audiobook), and I tuned in to a truly ridiculous statement by John Ridley.

Ridley said –and I paraphrase– “In the future TV networks will earn money online, not from the content, but from owning web sites.” (around 4:23 of this clip)

I could not believe my ears! I wanted to rush home to blog this right away, but kept listening in hopes of gleaning some context for this really daft assertion. In actuality I had no idea who Ridley is, or why he would hold such a position.

As it turns out he has formerly been a screenwriter and director, but is currently a contributor of Morning Edition. He was guesting as a commentator on Talk of the Nation during this interview, where he came out against the Writers Guild’s leadership.

I’m glad I listened through to the end because a caller (Chuck) near the segment’s end (11:30) did challenge him on the statement. Ridley’s response was very muddle-headed, but seemed to be essentially:

“Yes, ads pay money. Yes advertisers are paying because people come to the site. Yes people come to the site because of the content. Still no money can be said to be made from the content because people are not paying dollars to view it. Therefore the striking writers are making a mountain out of a molehill.”

Hmm. And I thought NPR really grokked online content delivery.