Moore or Less | No Filter
I Have Hit This Ceiling Before. Not This Time.
By Merv Moore | Shop in Seagoville | September 7, 2026
Thirty-six years ago, I worked 16-hour days building The Seagoville Gazette into the most read newspaper in Seagoville and Crandall.
I was 24 years-old and completely convinced a local newspaper could be the center of a town. For a while it actually was. Then I moved overseas to Switzerland.
The honest reason had nothing to do with community news. Running a local newspaper here was limited by a population that could only get so large. I ran into a ceiling and I went looking for a bigger room.
The Same Ceiling, 36 Years Later
In August, Shop in Seagoville reached 7,300 monthly unique visitors. I am proud of that number and so is everyone who helped build it. But I also felt something uncomfortably familiar.
I felt limited again.
We could keep operating a news and media website and push it toward 10,000 monthly unique visitors. That is a real goal and a reachable one. It is also a ceiling with a different number painted on it.
Newspapers Are Almost Extinct
I used to be a voracious reader. I finished entire novels in 1 to 2 days and never thought twice about it. That version of the reading public has mostly disappeared.
Newspapers are almost extinct. News and media websites are limited, too, because of how people actually get information now.
A local media outlet informs and entertains local residents. It also connects local businesses to that audience. The delivery method changed. The mission never did.
The Two Audiences We Were Missing
Two of our largest demographics were never going to show up for written articles. Teenagers do not read local news websites and they are not going to start. Spanish-speaking residents are the second group and they deserve far more than translated headlines.
Without those two audiences our growth potential stayed capped. Everything else was just arguing about how high the cap sits.
The Shop in Seagoville network solves that problem.
Why This Is Nothing Like YouTube
Local business owners are not looking to sponsor a video with a million random views from all over the world. Those views never walk through anybody’s front door in Seagoville or Crandall.
However, a local show with 1,000 to 10,000 views from local residents is an entirely different product. Those viewers live here and shop here and hire here. The products and services of local businesses are being seen by actual potential customers.
“A thousand local views are worth more to a local business than a million strangers.” — Merv Moore, Moore or Less
Creators Keep 60 Percent
60% / 40%
Creators receive 60 percent of collected sponsorship revenue from their franchise. Shop in Seagoville retains 40 percent.
That 40 percent pays for sponsor sales, billing, publishing, distribution, and network branding. Creators never have to build any of that from zero. They bring the personality and the local knowledge.
The more popular the show, the higher the sponsorship fee. A creator who builds a genuine local audience could reasonably see $500 to $1,000 in a month. Those figures are illustrations rather than guarantees because sponsorship has to be sold and collected first.
This is the part that excites me most. Earning money from social media is nearly impossible for a local creator. Earning money from a local network built for local sponsors is a completely different equation.
A Spanish Language Network of Its Own
Our Spanish programming will not be a translation department bolted onto an English website. It is a network of original shows built specifically for Spanish-speaking residents.
Aquí en Casa is the flagship news program. Nuestra Gente tells the community stories and Voces de Aquí brings conversations with leaders and families and students.
Familias Primero covers schools and resources that matter to local families. Camino al Futuro focuses on scholarships and careers while Negocios de Nuestra Gente introduces the owners behind local businesses.
Lo Que Debes Saber explains local issues quickly and clearly. That is a lineup and not an afterthought.
Still a Newsroom, Just on Video
We are not trading journalism for entertainment. Every video on the network will publish alongside a written summary of 2-3 paragraphs. The reporting standard does not get lowered because the format changed.
Local government news and prep sports will be delivered on video. School news, community stories, and business updates will follow the same format.
The network will run short videos, recurring show franchises, podcasts, and video reels. The premiere is set for Monday, December 7, and local news will never be the same.
The Verdict
Seagoville, Crandall, and Combine have lived inside borrowed Facebook communities for too long. Transforming those towns into cities with a real local digital network is the most exciting challenge I have taken on since 2023 – when I spent 17 months in the Kingdom of Bhutan training coaches and teaching baseball to kids in the highest country in the world.
We believe in Shop Local and Hire Local. That has been the top mission from the first day. But we also believe in Create Local and Earn Local just as strongly.
We are not your ordinary media outlet. The next three months will be historic in terms of what gets built here.
Do not watch us grow. Come grow with us!
Join the Creator NetworkMerv Moore is the Editor in Chief of Shop in Seagoville. Local News. Local Deals. Local People. His Moore or Less column is opinionated and occasionally uncomfortable. That is the point.
