Earlier this year, without much fanfare, Contentinople, a new blog about digital media and convergence was launched in the United States by London-based United Business Media, one of the world’s biggest business-to-business publishers.
Not a scrappy start-up, this enterprise has five full-time editorial employees with the sales and back office support of the parent company. It is not looking for venture capital.
Scott Raynovich, who we first met in the Red Herring days as reporter, is the publisher. Scott was the editor in chief of Light Reading, a highly successful online publication about the telecom industry with research and event divisions.
Started in 2000, just as the telecom industry went bust, Scott and his team built a powerful industry publication which was sold in 2005 to United Business Media for $27 million. Clearly Scott knows how to create value in the B2B space with publications with unusual names.
OK, so with with independent blogs like NewTeeVee, GigaOM, paidContent, TechCrunch along with powerful business and trade publishers like CNET, Information Week, the Hollywood Reporter and the wires and big newspapers, is there really room for a new player?
Scott says the site is going to be more tech-focused than many of the digital blogs, he says there will be an editorial focus on the technology and standards of emerging digital media. I think the reporting and analysis is quite good. Given Scott’s success in the telecom sector and his experience as an editor, this is one to watch.
Contentinople has launched a modest events business in its first year. The first will be one- day affair on April 22 in New York City. Beet.TV is a media sponsor. Hope to see you there.
— Andy Plesser
