Scripps has become very puzzling. It is difficult to discern the governing priciples of software development ( DevelopmentPrinciples ) THe situation is best understood in its historical context. In the beginning, Scripps had two web initiatives. The first was owned by the Newspaper Division. They needed to get their content online and fast. But also cheaply. Newspapers operate on very tight budgets, and as the content is advertiser supported, they weren't making a lot of money. THis has not stopped them from trying though, and their approach of building simple, inexpensive systems has served them pretty well. At little later, it was decided that the category stations needed a web presence as well. Specifically HGTV. They viewed their site merely as an extension of reinforcement of their brand. HGTV was successful and money was no object. However, they ran into various problems with ISP's, vendors, carriers, etc, and decided that the whole effort needed to be brought in house and controlled. After a couple of years, the newspaper group was centrally managed by a staff of 5, but the category group had at least twice this, and as the internet became more critical to business, it became clear that the newspapers would have to start thinking about their sites along similar terms as the category division. With the new focus came bigger projects and bigger bills. And so this is the crux of the conundrum. On the one hand, I'm excited becasue now we can focus on doing a good job technically, but on the other hand, the bottom line trumps all. How do we balance cost, strategy, technology and ROI? Consider the SHNS (ShnsContentFlow ). We isolated the performance issues, the technology issues, the architectural issues, and even bits of strategy that need to be addressed, but did we end up doing anything about it? No. I applied the best band-aids I could to keep them going, because we are too married to the sweetheart hosting deal they have in DC. But I ask you, just because it's cheap doesn't mean its the way to go. Doesn't the site have value? Should we be willing to invest in its value? Should we expand its value? And doesn't the current set up leave the brand at risk? Isn't the lesson from HGTV that it's all about the brand?