The struggling online news company Salon Media Group on Wednesday unveiled a syndication wire service in its latest attempt to increase revenues as the company's stock faces delisting.
Salon Media Group, the holding company of Salon.com, will make approximately 100 articles per week available for syndication on its newly launched SalonWire. The San Francisco media company has syndicated its work for years and currently has about 50 customers, according to spokesman Patrick Hurley. SalonWire, however, takes the company's syndication service a step further, offering an automated feed that also can customize content based on subject matter.
"We now have a vehicle to more easily distribute our content in a way that's convenient and familiar to our syndication clients," Salon President and CEO Michael O'Donnell said in a statement.
Salon, which counted 3.4 million unique visitors in April, would charge on a per-article basis for content distributed via the new SalonWire service, but would not disclose the rates it will charge. SalonWire has already signed up 10 customers in the past month, including Schwab Foundation, Catholic Digest, Sydney's Child and CMP Media.
The new business-to-business syndication service is the latest effort by Salon to boost and diversify revenues amid the weakened economy. The move follows a premium service launched in April that offers select content, such as erotic art and photography, without pop-up ads, for $30 per year or $50 for two years. Salon would not disclose the number of customers who have signed up for its premium service, but Hurley did say the company has exceeded its goal of reaching 1 percent to 2 percent of its reader base.
Hurt by the ailing ad market, Salon's revenues and stock price have plummeted. Earlier this month, Salon received notice from the Nasdaq Stock Exchange that it failed to comply with minimum bid requirements for listing. Salon has requested an oral hearing to appeal that decision and is considering asking shareholders to approve a reverse stock split. Shares of Salon were trading at 25 cents in afternoon trading Wednesday.
In April, the company said it is trying to raise working bridge capital until it breaks even by the end of the year. Salon reported having only $3.7 million in assets on May 31, and it posted fourth-quarter revenues for the period ended March 31 that dropped 63 percent to $1 million, from $2.6 million a year earlier. The company had a fourth-quarter loss of $5.5 million (42 cents a share), compared with a net loss of $6.2 million (50 cents) the same period a year earlier.
