News Flash: Rocketboom Will Remain Free

Rocketboom is not going to charge for its episodes, insists founder Andrew Michael Baron. He’s been struggling to get the word out since a MarketWatch article Thursday ran with a headline he calls “misleading”: “Rocketboom may charge for shows.” Apparently his blog has fewer readers than the news site, because the story continues to propagate.

“Rocketboom will always remain free and easily available to obtain,” Baron reiterated Monday. “That’s our #1 foundational principle of being and I don’t ever foresee needing to change that.” He declined further comment over email.

The problem, wrote Baron, is that he can’t find a revenue model that fits his needs. Pre-roll ads, mid-roll ads, product placement, Federated Media-type ads, he doesn’t like any of them, because they are mired in what he calls “mass advertising” and do not know how to adjust for online video. He’d rather do a sponsorship model like a museum or public radio, or perhaps a micro-donation system that fosters a fan-club mentality.

In another recent post, Baron sighs dramatically, “I have been really disappointed lately with the state of videoblogging.” It’s a tough life, but someone’s gotta do it.

Baron previously disclosed that Rocketboom made $247,412 in revenue in 2006, with $210,000 of that drawn from advertising.