DENVER—The future of a Denver online news venture is uncertain after it fell short of its subscriber goal and at least some of the staff parted ways with its financial backers.
Kevin Preblud, one of the original investors behind InDenverTimes.com, said Thursday the site attracted just 3,000 paying subscribers since it was announced March 16, well short of the 50,000-subscriber goal.
Preblud said the investors haven’t decided on their next step but the original concept, using about 30 staffers from the defunct Rocky Mountain News, isn’t viable with that number of subscribers.
“In this economic climate, and certainly in this advertising climate, it’s more prudent to start with a leaner operation that has a much shorter if not immediate road to viability from a cash-flow standpoint,” Preblud said.
He declined to say how many staffers the backers considered viable for a startup.
David Milstead, one of the former News staffers who was contributing work to InDenverTimes.com, said some of the staffers believe they can make the original concept work and are looking for new backers.
Milstead said it would take at least 10 people and probably more than 20 to provide a comprehensive online news site with news and sports coverage.
“The head count increases with the concept of trying to replicate, to some degree, the newspaper experience online,” Milstead said.
The E.W. Scripps Co., which owned the News, closed the newspaper after its Feb. 27 edition, citing mounting losses. Thursday would have been its 150th anniversary.
InDenverTimes was organized by former News staffers who were behind IWantMyRocky.com, a Web site to rally support for the News.
The staff had been volunteering its time for InDenverTimes. It wasn’t clear how many would continue after Thursday’s announcement by the financial backers.
