Thanks to our friends at Boston Sports Media Watch for first posting this story.  Last week the Boston Globe launched a new print publication, called the OT.  It’s a sports weekly with more in-depth coverage of Boston’s four major sports teams.  Here is last week’s announcement of the publication’s launch.

The magazine has some top notch local columnists and beat writers.  Charles Pierce and Tony Massarotti are Beantown stalwarts.  Chad Finn once wrote in New Hampshire and has been successful in the sports blogsphere.  The beat writers all have followings.

Content isn’t the problem for me.  The medium is.  With newspapers and other print publications bleeding in red ink, and with more an more people getting this content online (most of the OT‘s content can also be found there), why in the world would the Globe spend more money to print this every week?  I understand that there is little to no extra money being spent on the writing talent, but will the ad revenue and newstand sales even cover the cost to print this each week?

The concept of the content is a good one.  But it should stay as another online product for the paper.  Printing online is really cheap and the Globe could easily make a profit with the web-only advertising that you could sell with it. 

When are papers going to learn that what we see selling on the street will be extinct by the time my generation passes?  Yet the Globe feels that a new print product will improve their bottom line.  Good for them if they’re right.  I have my doubts.