TV news vets quit, launch online video startup
Cory Bergman June 18th, 2007
WISC news anchor Katy Sai and photographer Jay Olsen were tired of fighting for time to produce longer, relevant stories, so they quit and launched Storybridge.tv. It’s a showcase for in-depth pieces, but more than that, their goal is to create communities around great stories. “We found that communities of people were thirsty for information,” Olsen said. “When you do extended coverage, it allows people to gather around this story thread.”
They’ve also created a nonprofit arm to Storybridge.tv called StoryFund. “My hope is that we may be able to get grants or charitable donations to support series that are socially valuable but don’t have a natural commercial appeal for companies,” Sai said. While it may not make them rich, I think it’s a terrific idea. (Thanks for the tip, Allen!)
7 Comments Add your own
1. Allen | June 18th, 2007 at 10:21 pm
The layout and video player on that site is terrific. I hope they succeed. More power to them for having the balls to try something like this.
2. Anonymous | June 18th, 2007 at 10:28 pm
Why not shop this to WPT, the local public broadcaster?
3. Allen | June 18th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Here’s a link to a good article about this:
www dot madison dot com/tct/news/197038
4. Swift Loris | June 19th, 2007 at 4:27 pm
Oh, man, Allen’s right, the way the video’s set up on the site is fantastic, *extremely* appealing.
5. Cathy | June 20th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
Why shop it to PBS? Storybridge has the potential to be its own channel…provided the business model pans out. I’m hoping it does - what a great idea, and run by a great guy - Jay Olsen. I had the pleasure of working with him many moons ago. Cathy
6. Katy Sai | June 20th, 2007 at 10:54 pm
Hey guys — Katy from StoryBridge here.. Thanks for the article! How’d you find out about us so soon? We just launched last week and will be changing quite a bit in the next few months.
Thanks for the support Cathy! As for a business model, we’re looking to split the difference between commercial and public tv. I know how much our affiliate charged for sponsorship of socially-valuable (cause marketing) campaigns so I think there’s interest in the business community. I’ll let you know in a few months.
Do any of you know of journalists who’d like to showcase their work on StoryBridge? We’ve had some interest and are thinking of creating a free platform for video storytellers to share and comment on work. Thoughts?
7. tom kolman | October 5th, 2007 at 4:43 pm
i enjoyed both of you on channel 3 and i wish you both loads of luck.tom kolman 855 county road k ,wi.dells wi.53965
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