Voice of the Fan - TBD and Buff News

[BadLandsMeanie]

Thanks. I'm pretty sure it's $2.99 per month for the Bills Blitz during the football season. So it would only be $9 for the rest of the year.

 

 

It is a two-week free trial and then the billing for the first month happens after the two weeks expires. It is billed monthly.

 

Thanks for the heads up on the FAQ. Will get that fixed ASAP.

 

Josh

Thank you both. I was annoyed by the interface signing up, but now I feel better about it and I will go ahead and sign up today when I get a chance.

 

KTD this article of yours better be good is all I am saying if I am going on the hook for 2.99 here. It better be DAMNED good.

 

Now Josh, unsolicited advice because I can't resist the idea of expounding indirectly to Warren Buffet about how to make money. Poor fellow is bumbling around, searching for answers.

 

I have found in other endeavors, and you will likely come to find as well, that Bills fans are a thrifty bunch.

 

Now, we will pay for expensive tickets to see a bad team. We pay $30 to park a car and $9 for a beer and $34 for a $15 baseball cap. I can meet somebody new at a tailgate and they may hand me a beer and a plate filled with $15 dollars worth of food that they cooked themselves and they think nothing of it.

 

So one might suppose $2.99 a month will be a super easy sell. It won't be. There is a thrifty side to the fans. Very thrifty indeed. But do not lose hope! I am here to help.

 

In the olden days my family received a newspaper 7 days per week. But the belief was that it paid for itself. Between the coupons and the advertisements for money saving deals a family could easily save more than the subscription cost.

 

I think you could put enough stuff in there to convince your subscribers that they were getting a good bang for their buck. They will be willing for you to siphon 10 cents per day out of their thrifty wallets if they see it as a bargain.

 

Do you have coupons behind your paywall? Good ones? And genuine sales advertised on quality items that people will want?

 

What about a comic? People love comics. Can you put a sports related comic in there?

 

These are old methods but you do not have to reinvent the media or the newspaper model. You just need to redo the medium.

 

If you obtain quality ads and quality coupons you will not have to push them into our faces, so to speak. People will look for them just as they used to.

 

That's all for now but I think it would be a good start. Between coupons, desirable sales ads, comics and KTD's stories (which had better be good) I think you will have an easier time.

 

Also get up to date on your payment options. People use more than credit cards nowadays.

[yungmack]

Thank you both. I was annoyed by the interface signing up, but now I feel better about it and I will go ahead and sign up today when I get a chance.

 

KTD this article of yours better be good is all I am saying if I am going on the hook for 2.99 here. It better be DAMNED good.

 

Now Josh, unsolicited advice because I can't resist the idea of expounding indirectly to Warren Buffet about how to make money. Poor fellow is bumbling around, searching for answers.

 

I have found in other endeavors, and you will likely come to find as well, that Bills fans are a thrifty bunch.

 

Now, we will pay for expensive tickets to see a bad team. We pay $30 to park a car and $9 for a beer and $34 for a $15 baseball cap. I can meet somebody new at a tailgate and they may hand me a beer and a plate filled with $15 dollars worth of food that they cooked themselves and they think nothing of it.

 

So one might suppose $2.99 a month will be a super easy sell. It won't be. There is a thrifty side to the fans. Very thrifty indeed. But do not lose hope! I am here to help.

 

In the olden days my family received a newspaper 7 days per week. But the belief was that it paid for itself. Between the coupons and the advertisements for money saving deals a family could easily save more than the subscription cost.

 

I think you could put enough stuff in there to convince your subscribers that they were getting a good bang for their buck. They will be willing for you to siphon 10 cents per day out of their thrifty wallets if they see it as a bargain.

 

Do you have coupons behind your paywall? Good ones? And genuine sales advertised on quality items that people will want?

 

What about a comic? People love comics. Can you put a sports related comic in there?

 

These are old methods but you do not have to reinvent the media or the newspaper model. You just need to redo the medium.

 

If you obtain quality ads and quality coupons you will not have to push them into our faces, so to speak. People will look for them just as they used to.

 

That's all for now but I think it would be a good start. Between coupons, desirable sales ads, comics and KTD's stories (which had better be good) I think you will have an easier time.

 

Also get up to date on your payment options. People use more than credit cards nowadays.

pretty good advice, Meanie.

[NewEra]

Awesome Kelly. Mr. Barnett, you seem like a class act and the BN coverage of the Bills is finally where it should have been for the past 20 years. Because it's been so bad in recent years, I refuse to pay and will miss out on the content. After so many years of absolutely embarrassing coverage, the "right" thing to do this year was introduce the "new" blitz as free and allow us to enjoy a season to see if it's worth paying for. A free week of articles wasn't enough for me to pony up so Jerry Sullivan can keep his job.

 

P.S- I'd sign up right now if Jerry was fired. He's a bum and doesn't deserve to cover our team.

[Kelly the Dog]

Awesome Kelly. Mr. Barnett, you seem like a class act and the BN coverage of the Bills is finally where it should have been for the past 20 years. Because it's been so bad in recent years, I refuse to pay and will miss out on the content. After so many years of absolutely embarrassing coverage, the "right" thing to do this year was introduce the "new" blitz as free and allow us to enjoy a season to see if it's worth paying for. A free week of articles wasn't enough for me to pony up so Jerry Sullivan can keep his job.

P.S- I'd sign up right now if Jerry was fired. He's a bum and doesn't deserve to cover our team.

Do you not follow the Bills because you truly hate one player? I don't really understand that logic. A lot of people don't seem to like Sully, although I would argue he's good at his job because he gets people reading and talking, but he's just one of numerous writers and contributors. It's maybe 5% of the content, at most.

[NewEra]

Do you not follow the Bills because you truly hate one player? I don't really understand that logic. A lot of people don't seem to like Sully, although I would argue he's good at his job because he gets people reading and talking, but he's just one of numerous writers and contributors. It's maybe 5% of the content, at most.

I'm not a fan of the Buffalo News. I'm a fan of the Buffalo Bills. The correlation is nil imo. I can read articles on the Bills from several publications as well as TSW. The past 3 seasons, (actually 2014, 2015, I only read 5-10 article last year because the writing was THAT bad) has really put a bad taste in my mouth regarding the publication. Sullivan has been bad forever. The last couple year, skurski and Gleason have grown into little Sullivan minions imo. While graham, a good writer, is just flat out annoying on twitter.....and I don't even have a twitter account. He's a cocky punk and I don't like his fan interactions in the least.

Hopefully some of the new writers are good, but allowing me one free week to read and see for myself wasn't enough to sway me.

 

Firing Sullivan will show me they are trying to fix what was broken. I figured he'd have been let go when the Blitz was introduced. He's just not very talented and has suspect opinion and develops obvious bias'.

 

I'm sure I can come up with more reasons, but I'm at work and should get some of that done.

 

No offense to you Kelly. I always enjoy reading what you have to say

[Kelly the Dog]

I'm not a fan of the Buffalo News. I'm a fan of the Buffalo Bills. The correlation is nil imo. I can read articles on the Bills from several publications as well as TSW. The past 3 seasons, (actually 2014, 2015, I only read 5-10 article last year because the writing was THAT bad) has really put a bad taste in my mouth regarding the publication. Sullivan has been bad forever. The last couple year, skurski and Gleason have grown into little Sullivan minions imo. While graham, a good writer, is just flat out annoying on twitter.....and I don't even have a twitter account. He's a cocky punk and I don't like his fan interactions in the least.

Hopefully some of the new writers are good, but allowing me one free week to read and see for myself wasn't enough to sway me.

Firing Sullivan will show me they are trying to fix what was broken. I figured he'd have been let go when the Blitz was introduced. He's just not very talented and has suspect opinion and develops obvious bias'.

I'm sure I can come up with more reasons, but I'm at work and should get some of that done.

No offense to you Kelly. I always enjoy reading what you have to say

Understood. Let me put it this way. If you were the editor of a newspaper, and you had one opinion writer or columnist that let's say 80% of your readership hates, but very often reads and talks about at work and with their friends and propels conversation about that guy all across the city and the areas that guy writes about... would you fire him for the percentage of the negative press? Or would you keep if not applaud him for getting people to read his work and converse about him?

 

I have long held that Sully's bosses likely love him despite the general pissy attitude and a lot of sports fans are not fans of him.

[BadLandsMeanie]

pretty good advice, Meanie.

Thanks yung!

[section122]

Can we do a Voices of the (Banned) Fan column next? I want to see what joethesixpack, enlightener, RLB, Mr WEO, Crusher, and BillsFan4Ever think.

 

Weo got banned?!?!?! I was wondering where he was!

 

Congrats first off KtD I enjoy your takes here and am glad to see you getting this opportunity!

 

On to the subscription. I will hold my personal opinion on the subject at hand but I wanted to ask a few questions:

 

Is it $2.99/month all year long? Or does the price go down during the off season when there is less to read/digest? Is their an option to pay the full year up front? Is there a discount for that option?

[JoshBarnett]

The plan is for the price to be 2.99 consistently and we intend to more aggressively produce offseason content. The price could be subject to change because the product is new and we have not done an off-season.

 

We toyed with full year or season pricing options for those who wanted to pay up front for the time period and landed on using more of the Netflix model that only goes month to month. Definitely something we will look at again.

 

Thanks

[section122]

The plan is for the price to be 2.99 consistently and we intend to more aggressively produce offseason content. The price could be subject to change because the product is new and we have not done an off-season.

 

We toyed with full year or season pricing options for those who wanted to pay up front for the time period and landed on using more of the Netflix model that only goes month to month. Definitely something we will look at again.

 

Thanks

 

Thanks for the answers!

[NewEra]

Understood. Let me put it this way. If you were the editor of a newspaper, and you had one opinion writer or columnist that let's say 80% of your readership hates, but very often reads and talks about at work and with their friends and propels conversation about that guy all across the city and the areas that guy writes about... would you fire him for the percentage of the negative press? Or would you keep if not applaud him for getting people to read his work and converse about him?

 

I have long held that Sully's bosses likely love him despite the general pissy attitude and a lot of sports fans are not fans of him.

I get what you're saying. If I was in the media business than maybe I'd get it more. I manage the Cabanas at the Wynn in Las Vegas. If I had a cabana host that all the guests ranted about how much they hate him/her, I'd fire him/her. I want to make the guests happy. The media business is all about clicks. Something guest service doesn't care about. Maybe that's why I feel as I do about this

[The Frankish Reich]

Here's what's behind the paywall today:

 

- Kyle Williams puff piece. Apparently gave a spirited locker room speech.

- Lorax and Cedric Thornton have diabetes in their families. Or know people with diabetes. Or both.

- Marshawn Lynch loses suspension appeal (wire news available literally everywhere)

- Jack Del Rio said NFL coachy things about not overlooking his next opponent (again, available to be ignored on hundreds of sites)

- Buffalo weather forecast - i don't pay, so I guess I'll show up for the game in shorts and a t shirt. I mean, where else could I find this insight? I'll remind you: this is BEHIND A PAYWALL.

- Announcers announced for CBS!

- (separate article) and James Loton is one of them! Did you know he's an ex-Bill? You wouldn't unless you'd ante'd up.

- you can buy a ticket on Stub Hub for Sunday's game! Section 317, Row 34. It'll set you back a bit though. Maybe you should save $2.99 a month for the next 3 years and go.

-LeSean McCoy thinks his O Line isn't performing to 2016 levels. Breaking news! I never would've guessed by his greatly diminished yardage/YPC

- Tyrod Taylor passing heat maps. Let me guess: not too much over the middle. But probably more than before.

- "Tyrod Taylor was Flawless in comeback win vs Bucs." As in 4-4 on the last 2 drives. (I did have to look that one up, but I saved the cost of a grande americano)

- Amari Cooper has double the drops of Zay Jones!

- Lorax has a brother. He plays football. He may play college football in a big-ish program.

- Deonte Thompson was an unlikely hero last week. Did you know that he caught passes for as many yards as Mitch Trubisky had throwing the ball? And that Trubisky was his QB just a couple weeks ago? That says something. I'm not sure what though. Maybe "we're scrambling to create content to justify this new paywall."

- did you know that there's a bar that shows Bills games on (gasp!) 50 inch TVs? They leave the sound on too! Guys wear Zubaz. Now you know.

 

Ahh, just one day in the desperate life of a Bills Blitz.

[SDS]

Here's what's behind the paywall today:

 

- Kyle Williams puff piece. Apparently gave a spirited locker room speech.

- Lorax and Cedric Thornton have diabetes in their families. Or know people with diabetes. Or both.

- Marshawn Lynch loses suspension appeal (wire news available literally everywhere)

- Jack Del Rio said NFL coachy things about not overlooking his next opponent (again, available to be ignored on hundreds of sites)

- Buffalo weather forecast - i don't pay, so I guess I'll show up for the game in shorts and a t shirt. I mean, where else could I find this insight? I'll remind you: this is BEHIND A PAYWALL.

- Announcers announced for CBS!

- (separate article) and James Loton is one of them! Did you know he's an ex-Bill? You wouldn't unless you'd ante'd up.

- you can buy a ticket on Stub Hub for Sunday's game! Section 317, Row 34. It'll set you back a bit though. Maybe you should save $2.99 a month for the next 3 years and go.

-LeSean McCoy thinks his O Line isn't performing to 2016 levels. Breaking news! I never would've guessed by his greatly diminished yardage/YPC

- Tyrod Taylor passing heat maps. Let me guess: not too much over the middle. But probably more than before.

- "Tyrod Taylor was Flawless in comeback win vs Bucs." As in 4-4 on the last 2 drives. (I did have to look that one up, but I saved the cost of a grande americano)

- Amari Cooper has double the drops of Zay Jones!

- Lorax has a brother. He plays football. He may play college football in a big-ish program.

- Deonte Thompson was an unlikely hero last week. Did you know that he caught passes for as many yards as Mitch Trubisky had throwing the ball? And that Trubisky was his QB just a couple weeks ago? That says something. I'm not sure what though. Maybe "we're scrambling to create content to justify this new paywall."

- did you know that there's a bar that shows Bills games on (gasp!) 50 inch TVs? They leave the sound on too! Guys wear Zubaz. Now you know.

 

Ahh, just one day in the desperate life of a Bills Blitz.

What is your purpose in this thread? Why did you take that time out of your life to compile that?

[The Frankish Reich]

What is your purpose in this thread? Why did you take that time out of your life to compile that?

Because people stubbornly adhere to the idea that it's only fair to be compensated for providing content while ignoring the elephant in the room: does the content provide value?

 

Oh, and because I was bored with what I was doing at work.

 

EDIT: ok, enough snark. Let me tell the BN what i would be willing to suscribe for: analysis. I used to subscribe to Baseball Prospectus back in its heyday. I may subscribe to Pro Football Focus's premium package because it provides innovative analysis I can't get for free. I subscribe to the Wall St Journal because (1) there's some really good original content there; (2) that isn't available for free. I subscribed to the Financial Times in the past for similar reasons. The theme: the stuff I pay for is all analysis of the sort that I don't have the time or expertise to do myself. And to the BN: It doesn't cost much to bring on an analytics writer (or two); the best work generally starts with the proverbial kid working out of his mom's basement. I like some of the All 22 links that are posted here; if the BN had a really good analyst going over those in depth every week I'd consider that content worth paying for. Unfortunately that's not what I'm seeing now. I'm seeing standard locker room/press conference interview stuff, an occasional expanded version of the same (see the Lorax articles I noted above), and a large amount of filler (the weather; a sports bar review; a lame statistical take with no analysis). So I hope that's considered a productive comment that won't cause anyone undue worry about how I choose to spend my time ...

Edited October 25, 2017 by The Frankish Reich

[TakeYouToTasker]

Someone finally had the good sense to hide you behind a pay wall.

[JoshBarnett]

As I have said, I am happy to have a productive conversation on what people want. Appreciate your thoughts.

 

By my count, we posted 14 other pieces posted today that are not on the above list.

 

Included among them is an analytical look at the go route that the Raiders used last week -- and have used -- as they try to shake Amari Cooper free after a slow start. We also have an X's and O's column in the morning that breaks down the opponent. We also have another play breakdown coming that has the Bills on offense (instead of defense). We have been doing multiple analytics pieces every week, as well as stat-driven pieces. Up now, we also have an analysis of the pass defense after last week's effort with quotes from the coach and players.

 

Are some days softer than others in terms of tone? Sure. But we also have 35 pieces a day and are attempting to cater to a wide audience. The Kyle Williams postgame speech was liked and retweeted thousands of times so we asked him about it. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, and that's OK. But we thought it was an interesting window into a guy who has been in town for a while and understands the fans' frustrations.

 

Josh

[Kelly the Dog]

I get what you're saying. If I was in the media business than maybe I'd get it more. I manage the Cabanas at the Wynn in Las Vegas. If I had a cabana host that all the guests ranted about how much they hate him/her, I'd fire him/her. I want to make the guests happy. The media business is all about clicks. Something guest service doesn't care about. Maybe that's why I feel as I do about this

Right. It's a tough call. I was just in Vegas last week for the Sabres game. If I knew that I would have went over to Wynn for a drink and a looksee.

[The Frankish Reich]

As I have said, I am happy to have a productive conversation on what people want. Appreciate your thoughts.

 

By my count, we posted 14 other pieces posted today that are not on the above list.

 

Included among them is an analytical look at the go route that the Raiders used last week -- and have used -- as they try to shake Amari Cooper free after a slow start. We also have an X's and O's column in the morning that breaks down the opponent. We also have another play breakdown coming that has the Bills on offense (instead of defense). We have been doing multiple analytics pieces every week, as well as stat-driven pieces. Up now, we also have an analysis of the pass defense after last week's effort with quotes from the coach and players.

 

Are some days softer than others in terms of tone? Sure. But we also have 35 pieces a day and are attempting to cater to a wide audience. The Kyle Williams postgame speech was liked and retweeted thousands of times so we asked him about it. It might not be everyone's cup of tea, and that's OK. But we thought it was an interesting window into a guy who has been in town for a while and understands the fans' frustrations.

 

Josh

Josh, thanks for being a standup guy. Why am I commenting here? Because I'm interested in the fate of the news media (including sports media) overall. I'm interested in various models out there that are being tried out. I'm interested in what the BN is trying to do here, and as I noted before, I see the BN Blitz as something of an experiment/pilot - as newspapers shrink and lay off reporters/columnists in this day and age of "we want it free," maybe the better solution will be to provide more content and to see if people are willing to pay for it. My gripe here is with the "35 pieces a day" part - it's quantity over quality, particularly when some of those pieces are a prose version of a weather forecast or a rewording of standard wire press conference summaries. I like the idea of the analysis. I'd also give some of the reporters a chance to do a longform piece or two. So please keep trying, but please don't try to hard to make everything sound like inside or premium content; keep the weather report in the weather section. For free.

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

 

Weo got banned?!?!?! I was wondering where he was!

 

Congrats first off KtD I enjoy your takes here and am glad to see you getting this opportunity!

 

On to the subscription. I will hold my personal opinion on the subject at hand but I wanted to ask a few questions:

 

Is it $2.99/month all year long? Or does the price go down during the off season when there is less to read/digest? Is their an option to pay the full year up front? Is there a discount for that option?

 

I've been banned once. for a week. by an over-officious mod who's no longer here.

 

So i doubt I'd qualify.

 

[BadLandsMeanie]

Here's what's behind the paywall today:

 

- Kyle Williams puff piece. Apparently gave a spirited locker room speech.

- Lorax and Cedric Thornton have diabetes in their families. Or know people with diabetes. Or both.

- Marshawn Lynch loses suspension appeal (wire news available literally everywhere)

- Jack Del Rio said NFL coachy things about not overlooking his next opponent (again, available to be ignored on hundreds of sites)

- Buffalo weather forecast - i don't pay, so I guess I'll show up for the game in shorts and a t shirt. I mean, where else could I find this insight? I'll remind you: this is BEHIND A PAYWALL.

- Announcers announced for CBS!

- (separate article) and James Loton is one of them! Did you know he's an ex-Bill? You wouldn't unless you'd ante'd up.

- you can buy a ticket on Stub Hub for Sunday's game! Section 317, Row 34. It'll set you back a bit though. Maybe you should save $2.99 a month for the next 3 years and go.

-LeSean McCoy thinks his O Line isn't performing to 2016 levels. Breaking news! I never would've guessed by his greatly diminished yardage/YPC

- Tyrod Taylor passing heat maps. Let me guess: not too much over the middle. But probably more than before.

- "Tyrod Taylor was Flawless in comeback win vs Bucs." As in 4-4 on the last 2 drives. (I did have to look that one up, but I saved the cost of a grande americano)

- Amari Cooper has double the drops of Zay Jones!

- Lorax has a brother. He plays football. He may play college football in a big-ish program.

- Deonte Thompson was an unlikely hero last week. Did you know that he caught passes for as many yards as Mitch Trubisky had throwing the ball? And that Trubisky was his QB just a couple weeks ago? That says something. I'm not sure what though. Maybe "we're scrambling to create content to justify this new paywall."

- did you know that there's a bar that shows Bills games on (gasp!) 50 inch TVs? They leave the sound on too! Guys wear Zubaz. Now you know.

 

Ahh, just one day in the desperate life of a Bills Blitz.

FWIW I enjoyed your post. I appreciate good snark for its own sake.

 

 

 

 

To KTD : Ok I have read your article there KTD. That was pretty good. I enjoyed it well done.

 

Of course you are eager for my suggestions. I won't make you ask in case you are too proud.

 

You can take your Commandeer joke along to future posts.

 

A remark about how Tyrod has Commodored the Bills with his new and energetic practice habits.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phNLASyPsUU

 

 

And then if we have a bad game, he can Commode the Bills.

 

No need to thank me.

Edited October 26, 2017 by BadLandsMeanie