The obligatory “Hot Air’s revenue stream goes up in smoke” post; Update: PJM speaks

Starting tomorrow, you too can read HA for the low, low price of $99.95 per year.

No, just kidding. Or am I?

As you know, last September Pajamas Media began a new initiative in Internet television called Pajamas TV. When we started with our RNC coverage from Minneapolis, we noted that we would be in a Beta Phase through the first quarter of 2009. In the last few months we have strengthened the PJTV lineup with shows covering Media Bias, Education Bias, Middle East Update, Sharia and Jihad, Powerline Report, Ask Dr. Helen, Hugh News, Poliwood, Conservatism 2.0, Economy and Finance, National Security, and others.

As the end of the first quarter approaches and we near the production phase of Pajamas TV, we will continue to build our emphasis in this area. As a result we have decided to wind down the Pajamas Media Blogger and advertising network effective March 31, 2009. The PJM portal and the XPressBlogs will continue as is.

Thank god I have that pothole-filling job in the new Obama WPA to fall back on.

Seriously, we think we’ll be okay. I figured traffic would crater after the election, settling somewhere around 350-400K hits a day by the inauguration. Thanks to you, we’re considerably better positioned than that. Things will be tight after April, as they are for everyone, which is why we hope/expect we won’t have to come begging for donations. But, er, stay tuned. As for PJM, Ace said it best: It was a good deal, it kept a lot of righty bloggers going during the election, and now circumstances have changed. Business is business, red in tooth and claw. I just hope there’s a conservative entrepreneur out there willing to snap up some of the talent that’s now on the market. Are there any new sites around flush with cash and looking to establish a presence in the blogosphere that could use full-time bloggers and the built-in audiences that would come with them? Hmmm.

Exit question via Atlas Shrugs: That PJM-sponsored blogger’s row at CPAC is going to be a little awkward, huh?

Update: You’ll know we’re in dire straits financially when you notice that every last post is comment bait about Palin and atheism, instead of every other post the way it is now.

Update: Another idea. If the man of Steele is serious about expanding the party’s reach online, how about hiring someone to blog for the RNC?

Update: Roger Simon weighs in:

Actually that part of our business has been losing money from the beginning, so the people getting their quarterly checks from PJM were getting a form of stipend from us in the hopes that advertisers would start to cotton to blogs and we could possibly make a profit. Didn’t happen. No wonder those people are kicking and screaming now that they are off the dole. I might too. [What's their beef? I thought most of them were free marketeer libertarians or something.-ed. Go figure.]

• Bobby Jindal: Paternalistic, big-government liberalism is the biggest loser here
• Chris Christie: “I’ll be here to welcome” Obama when he comes to tour the NJ coast again next week
• MSNBC consensus: Obama’s speech was historic, amazing, “one of the best of his presidency”

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