"The SDMB operates at a loss"

About This Message Board
1

So I tried in the Pit to get a thread going on this, reasoning that administrative costs were related to administration. The thread quickly degenerated and after a few suggestions I’m hoping that the thread’s acceptable here since moving it to the Pit will be futile.

I often read in discussions of board policy that the reason behind this or that policy is that the Chicago Reader operates this board at a loss and so does not want to get sued over content. I’m curious as to how much it actually costs to operate this board and whether it’s actually at a “loss.”

Please note that I have no interest in whether this is actually the reason for any given policy, a discussion of the rightness or wrongness of any given policy, or other similar comments. Just looking for basic information.

Mods, if this thread’s not appropriate here, just lock it. Moving it to the Pit won’t do anyone any good and there’s already a Pit thread anyway.

2

Well I can’t make an educated guess at how much it costs to operate this board, other than to say that the servers consume electricity and they require maintainance provided by an employee. That said, I am not aware of any income produced by the board itself, there are no subscription fees and no banner ads (as alluded by istara):[

So any expense generated by the board means that the board operates “at a loss.”

I suppose you could argue that the SDMB does generate income because is leads more people to read Cecil’s columns online (which do have banner ads) or maybe order his books.

3

Otto asks:

I get paid for this, believe it or not, plus we’ve got the T-1s, periodic investments in computer hardware, and we probably should throw in something for jdavis’s time. The honchos probably would frown on me giving out too detailed an idea, but I don’t think I’ll get in trouble if I tell you the total is north of 25G. That’s to run the entire SD website, not just the SDMB.

4

Wow! I had no idea it cost that much! Thanks for the info Ed, I appreciate getting a ballpark figure at least!

I say they just quit paying you and save the money!
:wink:

5

Well Ed, Thank you. And thanks to everyone at the Reader. You guys rock! :smiley:

6

Otto, a quick thank you for asking this question. And a quick apology for my part in the degeneration of the other thread. Mea Culpa.

And a thank you to Ed for the quick reply.

7

[ul]:confused: [sup]Which way is north?[/sup][/ul]

8

“North of” means “higher than”. I assume the phrase derives from the fact that maps are nowdays all oriented with north pointing up.

9

G=K? I first thought it might be GIGs/month or something.

So if that is K$, is that a yearly thing a monthly one or a weekly? Not a small amount, whatever the case, with nothing to offset it.

10

No, G means “giga”. So this place costs 2.5*10[sup]10[/sup] to run. Fortunately, Ed didn’t specify the units, so we’re free to suppose 1933 Deutchmarks.

But seriously, G can also stand for “grand”, American slang for $1000.

11

As you would know if you read Staff Reports regularly: Straight Dope Staff Report: What’s the origin of “grand” meaning $1,000?

12

Well, you learn something new… I thought it was Britslang. Now I learn it’s one of those words we got from you.

That’s the last time I use it… :stuck_out_tongue:

pan