Subscribe to Optaros RSS feedWhile traditional media companies have struggled to adapt to the digital age, Sports Illustrated now provides free searchable access to its entire history of articles online. Does this brilliant initiative offer a path that will enable newspapers and magazines to win?
The rise of blogs has mirrored the decline of traditional media such as newspapers and magazines. It seems as if a week doesn't go by without hearing news about another cutback at a newspaper. Over the past few years, not only have blogs become a legitimate source of news and content, they've become the primary source for many people. For breaking news and commentary, many people now turn to blogs before traditional news sources. With more people consuming news online, other media (e.g., newspapers, tv) have found it difficult to keep pace. (When was the last time you watched the 6 o'clock news? What sites do you track in Google Reader?).
Though most traditional media properties have websites, online revenue has not compensated for the loss of classified and product advertising revenue. Many traditional media companies have retrenched, shrinking year by year as each new approach fails to stem the tide.
Sports Illustrated (SI), part of Time Warner, now offers free, full access to the magazine's archives. That's every article Sports Illustrated has ever published. Actually, it's more than articles; the archive, called the SI Vault (http://www.si.com/vault), offers covers, photos and galleries, and videos as well. For a sports fan, this is a treasure trove. One can relive the most memorable moments in sports history. Remember when Christian Laettner hit the game-winning shot against Kentucky in the '92 NCAA basketball tournament? Remember when Roger Maris broke Babe Ruth's home run record? Remember when Michael Jordan hit the game-winner against Utah in '98? Why was Steve Prefontaine, the legendary distance runner, on SI's cover as an Oregon freshman in 1970? Want to read the best of the prolific writer Frank Deford? Want to understand how Sports Illustrated has evolved from the 1950s until now? SI's vault enables one to explore all these things and many more. SI enables readers to view the complete article text or view the magazine in its original form (including the ads from the original issue).
The idea of putting the magazine's entire archive online -- for free, and searchable -- is one of those ideas that makes one say, "of course that's a great idea," in retrospect. I'm stunned it took this long to make it happen, and that there aren't more magazines and newspapers who've already done it. Think about it: bloggers and other new-media enterprises have only been around for years. They're got limited perspective. Traditional media companies have documented history! This is a tremendous advantage, and it plays to their strengths. It gives SI an additional game to play. Rather than focus exclusively on chasing the latest scoop, the Vault gives SI a wonderful long-tail play. So, not only is the content rich and deep, it offers new opportunities for commerce. For example, in addition to advertising, SI sells memorabilia selected to match the editorial context. This is a treasure trove of content that can be repurposed to great benefit. SI smartly encourages readers to email articles to friends, tag articles as "most popular," and bookmark articles on social bookmarking sites like del.icio.us. They also cleverly provide detailed links to related articles, photos, videos, and covers.
Combining the rich, long-tail content of traditional media with modern web design practices is sure to be a winning approach. I can imagine SI syndicating video, photos, and articles, and giving readers widgets so that they can embed their favorite historical sporting events in their blogs, websites, and Facebook profiles. The possibilities are endless.