TV STATIONS’ WEBSITES PROFITABLE — MAYBE

About 35 percent of TV station websites are operating in the black, according to a survey by Hofstra University conducted for the Radio, Television, and Digital News Association (RTDNA). Details of the survey were not made publicly available, but Broadcasting & Cable magazine said on it website that the survey included he observation that news directors at 43 percent of stations conceded that they did not know if their website is making money. In its news release, the RTDNA noted that while the TV stations’ websites are still providing still pictures and video from their newscasts, producing live newscasts or podcasts has leveled off or declined. The news release quoted, Hofstra’s Bob Papper, the survey director, as saying, “These numbers suggest that, more and more, stations are deciding that certain web elements aren’t working that well for them — or aren’t worth the effort — and they’re either scaling them back or not bothering with them at all.”