Table 1
Conceptual framework for viable, sustainable and resilient hyperlocal business models
| Classification | Definition | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Viable | Sites fulfilling a demand or perceived need for content by the audience | Likely to generate €35,000 or less. Often one-man operations working with limited resources. The Charlton Champion, UK, was created in 2010 as an addition to a sister site, 853 Blog. Both created out of passion and frustration, they continue to operate solely through the motivations of the founder. Less focus on page views and generating income but a heavy focus on investigative journalism. |
| Sustainable | Able to sustain a flow of content to meet that need over time, and likely to draw some “money” as a wage, cover expenses of contributors and/or cover costs of equipment, web hosting, printing etc. | Annual income of €35,000 or more likely. More often a team operation mixing paid staff and some volunteers. The Lincolnite, UK, is an original digital start-up that is now dominating the local scene. Launched in May 2010, the website receives an average of 500,000 a month. Also runs a digital business magazine, job listings, hosts their own digital awards and ecommerce. |
| Resilient | Media can sustain a flow of content and make profit, or grow/scale the operation by investing the earned revenues | Can have varied incomes but more likely to have annual income above €35,000. Often more structured resourcing allocation. De Utrechtse Internet Courant in Utrecht has an online TV station and also makes videos for third parties. It started in 2011 and has a professional editorial and sales staff. Holding authority to account is their main objective. |
Figure 1
Diversification of revenues (number of hyperlocals)
Comments: The number of examined hyperlocals was 35. Many of these had diversified revenue models.
Table 2
Range of total annual income set against self-evaluation as viable, sustainable and resilient
| Resilient | Sustainable | Viable | ||||||||||
| more than €355,000 | between €142-355k | between €35-142k | under €35,000 | unknown | more than €355,000 | between €142-355k | between €35-142k | under €35,000 | more than €355,000 | between €142-355k | between €35-142k | under €35,000 |
| 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 9 |
[i] Comments: The number of examined hyperlocals was 33. (Two of the 35 examined hyperlocals did not self-select as viable, sustainable or resilient.)
Figure 2
Content (per cent)
Comments: The content analysis was based on the ten last items published by each hyperlocal. Thus, in total 350 items were coded.
Table 3
Taxonomy of business ecosystemic relationships
| Relationship | Revenue classification | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Volunteers | Non-monetary exchange or subsidised services | Rewarding delivery services, free use of office space, using freelance photographers for free to have their work linked and social media presences promoted, employment support in the form of salary or personal subsidies in exchange for opportunities for people to return to work |
| Memberships and donations | Payment for additional services, financial pledges of support, monetary donations from a wide community base around a specific project or commission | Cooperative business structure, readers club, donations |
| Community events | Ticket sales, entry fee, sponsorship, spin-out services or by reaching new audiences | Pop-up workshops, party events, conferences |
| Other businesses or government bodies | Revenues or cost-saving benefits, non-monetary exchange of time and skills, licence revenue model | Project collaborations, exchange of content ideas and expertise building with media know-how, acting as a front end to high-street retailers, website collaborations with local civic or tourism organisations, non-journalism projects with civic value |
| Other publishers | Distribution deals, syndication, resource sharing | Exposure through parent, sister or incumbent local print publications, editorial partnerships, content sharing, data sharing, shared sales management, non-exclusive court reporting deals with public service broadcaster, advertising partnerships with regional publishers |
| Advertisers | Advertising deals, advertorial, native advertising, sponsored articles, an event feature, home page takeovers, classified or listings | Discounts for repeat advertising business, incentives for long-term advertising contracts, advertorial talk show of local businesses, sponsored podcasts, classified and directory models, offering commissions to people in other organisations from lead generation |
| Sales and marketing | Commission-based sales, profit share on revenue generated from advertising and sales, subcontracted sales, sales networks | Part-time sales also doing their own client network, commissionbased advertising salesperson, paid sales staff within the team, subcontracting to independent commercial agents, pooled resources to appoint a joint sales and marketing person with other hyperlocal services, pooled advertising inventory |