Rye Patch News Site May be Shuttered
AOL's Rye Patch web site, opened in 2009, may be shuttered.
In an earnings call last week, AOL CEO Tim Armstrong said many of the money losing Patch operations will be shuttered. Of 900+ Patch web sites nationwide, reports of one third to as many as 400+ of the sites will be closed down or sold off.
Word is expected to come down this week about which of the 400+ sites will be closed. We'd be surprised if Rye Patch is among them given the affluence of local readership, the importance of the NYC metro area of advertisers and the fact that CEO Tim Armstrong lives in nearby Riverside, Connecticut.
When contacted by MyRye.com, Elizabeth Giegerich, the Editor of the Rye and Port Chester Patch, told us "I know probably as much as anything you've read online so I can't answer that."
Forbes reported:
"The great Patch purge will be even bloodier than promised.
Out of the more than 900 Patch sites AOL operates nationwide, only about 500 will remain under the corporate umbrella as owned-and-operated properties, CEO Tim Armstrong told employees of the local news network on a conference call Friday morning, according to an account published by Jim Romenesko. That’s somewhat more severe than the cull Armstrong previewed for investors on Wednesday, when he said about one-third of the sites were considered to be underperforming and would be closed, sold or handed over to a partner.
Armstrong vowed to take a more active role in managing the remaining Patches, which, he said, were suffering from a lack of “leadership with a capital ‘L.’” The folks who he apparently considers at fault for the leadership vacuum, Patch CEO Steve Kalin and chief content officer Rachel Feddersen, were among the first to be let go, according to Business Insider. Reports vary for the number of Patch staffers who will be let go as a result of the downsizing…
I’m told about 300 will be laid off this week, with more following, presumably, if Armstrong’s prediction that local newspapers will be eager to partner with AOL on many of the money-losing sites proves unfounded."
Over-promise, Over-spend, Under-perform, Over-react.
It’s the Big Media Credo.
Word is Westchester County sites are among most profitable despite that awful and poorly timed recent redesign shoved on them by corporate. And Liz is no slouch in generating solidly granular local stories. My bet is Westchester sites are spared the most draconian cuts being brought by Bozo Armstrong.