If you listen to the radio, the ads seem endless. Seacoast Current.com. Seacoast Current.com. Seacoast Current.com. What is it, and how do they have so much radio coverage?
They are a digital expression of Townsquare Media, which owns hundreds of radio stations. That explains all the ads, but what are they trying to sell?
It’s not a bad idea.
Seacoast Current is a standalone digital news platform operated by Townsquare Media Northern New England and covers everything from breaking stories and police news to outdoor life, things to do in the region, University of New Hampshire news, restaurants and local sports.
Under the direction of Kimberley Haas, who will serve as the site’s managing editor, Seacoast Current’s mission is to provide the New Hampshire Seacoast with accountable and attentive coverage that matters to them. To do that, Seacoast Current will have no paywall and no free-article limit, giving our readers the most accessible news coverage in the region.
They are a media presence on the Seacoast of New Hampshire that is not owned and run by the Seacoast Media Group (SMG) to start. That makes it a rare bird.
Unlike most or all the other media in NH, they are wide-open, like GraniteGrok.com. No paywall and no article limits, so that is also a plus.
But other than that, what’s the draw. What is the distinction?
Sure, being free is easy with the weight of a massive media beast like Townsquare behind you, but Patch.com is free.
Ues, you have a built-in marketing powerhouse to move ad space and keep the thing up on both legs, and Radio has not been tumbling down a slippery slope like print, but again, what’s the draw?
” Seacoast Current’s mission is to provide the New Hampshire Seacoast with accountable and attentive coverage that matters to them.”
The Seacoast may have more media ‘outlets’ than any other part of the state. Fosters Daily Democrat, SeacoastOnline, the Portsmouth Herald, Rochester Times, Exeter, Hampton, even the weekly UNH “paper” (The New Hampshire) that also serves Durham all owned by SMG). I think there’s more.
As far as I can tell, all of these footprints are providing coverage that matters to people living on the NH Seacoast. Or maybe not? Someone had to pitch this to Townsquare, and they bought it or paid for it. Someone thinks there’s a niche for what they are publishing.
It’s good as far as it goes, but it looks a lot like all the other news from those other places.
I’ve not seen any crazy bias there yet, so that would be a great draw if they can sustain it, but news, weather, personal interest, and more vanilla do not strike me as sustainable in that market even without bias and paywalls.
If they are stealing readers from SMG (owned by Gannett, which is based in Virginia), that alone is a public service. We’ve been doing that for years as a standalone digital platform, though we’ve recently grown tentacles.
One of them is called SeacoastGrok, and thay’ve got some local news and opinions you won’t find anywhere else, which is what I mean by what’s the draw.
I wish Seacoast Current all the luck in the world (stealing online readers from the partisan SMG monopoly), but I think you need to find another way to differentiate yourselves.
Free vanilla is nice, but it’s still vanilla.
