{"slug":"convert-the-daily-newspaper-into-a-video","name":"Morning Local Brief","category":"Marketing","customer":"Editors at mid-sized local newspapers","problem":"Local newsrooms produce valuable stories that go unread because audiences lack time and prefer video.","value":"For editors at mid-sized local newspapers, turn daily article feeds and columnist voices into personalised morning video briefings. Address the problem: local newsrooms produce valuable stories that go unread because audiences lack time and prefer video. The value hypothesis is a new engagement channel that retains subscribers and attracts younger readers; the pilot must establish whether daily video briefings increase readership and retention.","format":"Source-based content workspace with editorial delivery","screens":"Key screens: Article intake, story selection, script editor, video preview, delivery dashboard. Use a queue of ingested articles with metadata, a scoring panel for topic match, a script editor with narration preview, a video preview with generated visuals and voice, and a dashboard showing delivery status and viewer engagement. In this product, the first view is article intake, followed by story selection, script editor, video preview, and delivery dashboard.","functionality":"1. Ingest articles from CMS feeds. 2. Score stories against reader interests. 3. Generate narration scripts with key quotes. 4. Create or pull relevant imagery. 5. Compile video with voice clone. 6. Schedule and deliver to subscribers.","workflow":"Pull digital edition, score articles, select top stories, generate scripts, produce visuals and narration, compile video, and deliver to subscribers. Start with daily article feeds and columnist voice samples and finish with personalised morning video briefings.","ai":"AI reads articles, extracts key quotes, generates scripts, creates or selects imagery, and synthesises narration using a consented voice clone. A human editor reviews each video for factual accuracy, tone, and pronunciation before delivery.","inputs":"Daily article feeds, columnist voice samples, reader preference data","deliverables":"Personalised morning video briefings delivered via app or email","admin":"Editor accounts, article ingestion logs, script versions, video approval states, delivery records, subscriber preferences, and audit trail for all generated content.","mvp":"Single-paper pilot: ingest one newspaper's daily output, use a generic narrator, produce a single 3-minute video covering top 5 stories, deliver via private YouTube link at 7 a.m. Manual review of each video before sending.","expansion":"Automate personalisation based on reader topics, add voice cloning with columnist consent, integrate with newspaper apps, and scale to multiple publications with white-label licensing.","usp":"A daily video briefing that uses the paper's own columnist voice and local story selection, creating a personal connection no generic news aggregator can match.","defensibility":"Accumulated reader preference data and proprietary voice cloning licences create switching costs; each paper's unique voice and story mix become harder to replicate over time.","alternatives":"Text newsletters, generic news apps, and broadcast news; this differs by offering a personalised, voice-narrated video that feels local and trusted.","revenue":"Test $5/month per reader subscription and $2 per subscriber per month for white-label licensing to newspaper chains.","costs":"AI video generation, voice cloning licensing, cloud storage, and editorial review time.","integrations":"Newspaper CMS (e.g., WordPress), email delivery (e.g., SendGrid), video hosting (e.g., YouTube), and subscriber management (e.g., Stripe).","dependencies":"Access to article feeds, consent for voice cloning, reliable AI video generation API, and a delivery mechanism for videos.","pilot":"Paid pilot with one mid-sized newspaper: measure subscriber engagement (video views, time watched) against baseline text readership. Decision: if video briefings increase daily active readers by 20%, proceed to multi-paper rollout.","plan30":"Week 1: Build article ingestion and scoring. Week 2: Develop script generation and video compilation. Week 3: Set up delivery and manual review workflow. Week 4: Run pilot with one newspaper and collect feedback.","metrics":"Daily video views per subscriber and subscriber retention rate after 30 days.","channels":"Newspaper industry conferences, digital publishing forums, and direct outreach to local newspaper editors.","leadMagnet":"A free sample video briefing generated from a newspaper's recent articles.","message":"Your local paper, read to you every morning in a personal video.","retention":"Recurring daily videos keep subscribers engaged; add personalisation and columnist voice to increase loyalty and reduce churn.","controls":"Limit voice cloning to consented columnists, require human review of all videos, restrict personalisation to explicit preferences, and ensure no content is published without editorial approval. Must not generate videos without human sign-off.","crossSector":"PR and Communications; Writers","fn":["Ingest articles from CMS feeds","Score stories against reader interests","Generate narration scripts with key quotes","Create or pull relevant imagery","Compile video with voice clone","Schedule and deliver to subscribers"],"sc":{"opp":7,"pain":6,"feas":6,"now":8},"phases":[{"name":"MVP","scope":"One buyer segment, one recurring use case. Manual review in the loop.","time":{"days":6,"label":"6 days"},"usd":10000},{"name":"Paid pilot","scope":"Accounts, roles, review states, audit trail and the first integration, hardened for two to three paying pilot customers.","time":{"days":7,"label":"7 days"},"usd":13000},{"name":"Full product","scope":"Self-serve onboarding, billing, monitoring and the wider integration set.","time":{"days":12,"label":"2 weeks"},"usd":17500}],"running":[{"stage":"MVP and paid pilot","note":"about 3 customers","hosting":[30,60],"ai":[70,140],"total":[100,200]},{"stage":"Full product","note":"about 50 customers","hosting":[110,210],"ai":[700,1400],"total":[810,1610]}],"total":40500,"complexity":0.72,"days":25,"shot":true,"demo":true}