In the 1960’s the Annenberg family made a fortune by selling the TV guide at checkout stands around the USA.  The business changed and I don’t know if the TV guide still exists but the Annenberg family became fabulously wealthy.  The point is that people will pay for some information.

In a blog entry titled The Future of News Distribution a week or so ago I wrote about the problem caused by the fact that people are not very willing to pay for news and some possible solutions.

I have now realized part of how we came to this impasse.  Radio and TV the two newest and most ubiquitous sources of information have evolved on an advertising model so that the listener or viewer does get free access to the information or entertainment.  So the current problem, that nobody will pay for the real cost of reporting, editing and distributing news, was to some extent caused by the media that is now bemoaning the fact.  Ironic isn’t it.

New fortunes are going to be made by the Annenbergs of the future when this is sorted out. Stay tuned and pay your cable bill.