Home » Authors » Anthony Schoettle

Anthony Schoettle

Phone:
317-472-5374

Email:
aschoettle@ibj.com

Reporter, #IBJtech newsletter author

Technology, venture capital, media and marketing

Schoettle grew up in Indianapolis, graduating from Southport High School and Indiana University. He then departed on a tour of middle Indiana, reporting for papers in Greenwood, Frankfort, Columbus and Franklin before landing at IBJ in 1998. At his previous jobs, he spent a decade as a political and government reporter. Beyond writing, Schoettle’s passions include animals and wildlife, watching all manner of television and long-distance cycling and running. Though he put away his trumpet many years ago, he remains an avid music fan. Schoettle shares his home in Southport with his wife, Elizabeth, three salty dogs and three sweet cats. Preferring to live in a “park-like setting,” one of his primary goals each spring and summer is to see how seldom he can mow his front lawn.

Articles

Indians reverse attendance slide: 10-percent increase could lead to seven-figure profit

The Indianapolis Indians this year scored the second-highest-percentage attendance increase in the 14-team International League. The spike could push the team’s profit over $1 million. The AAA farm team for Major League Baseball’s Pittsburgh Pirates scored a 10-percent increase in attendance. The Indians drew 8,383 per game, up from 7,608 in 2006. While attendance for all minor-league baseball teams was up 2.2 percent, the Indians’ ability to beat that trend in a crowded sports market is a testament to the…

Read More

Township wrestles with incorporation: As Greenwood, Bargersville annex commercial corridors, rest of township declines

White River Township in northwest Johnson County is dotted with an increasing number of high-priced homes and anchored by one of the area’s strongest school districts. But the area, known as Center Grove, also is marked by crumbling roads, poor drainage and an anemic parks system. To preserve its strengths and shore up its growing weaknesses, some in the area think White River Township needs to incorporate into its own city. The township of more than 40,000 residents faces the…

Read More

Weak dollar boosting state manufacturers

The sliding value of the U.S. dollar is boosting financial results for some of Indiana’s big exporters. The dollar recently
hit its lowest point in 15 years against an index of other major currencies, such as the euro, the Chinese yuan and Canadian
dollar.

Read More

Ad agency scores national attention with MTV campaign: Bradley and Montgomery use Web’s social networks

Advertising agency Bradley and Montgomery launched an unorthodox campaign for cable television station MTV last month that is gaining the local firm-and its client-national acclaim. A friend of a friend led BAM officials to the New York-based music television channel, which was looking to promote the release of its show “The Hills” on DVD. BAM officials pulled video snippets from the show, enhanced them graphically, then uploaded the snippets to Web sites such as YouTube.comand Veoh.com. The resulting vignettes can…

Read More

Ex-banker creates empire by buying, boosting sleepy businesses

Riverside Manufacturing was a sleepy New Castle firm with $5 million in sales when Fred Merritt bought it to try his hand
at running a company. Five years later, Riverside’s sales have grown a whopping 800 percent, it dominates its industry, and
Merritt, 39, is ready to work his magic on an Indianapolis company.

Read More

Big Ten battles for TV sports bonanza

The new Big Ten Network and some of the nation’s largest cable television systems are fighting over how consumers will be charged for the network’s programming. Hundreds of sporting events could be blacked out in local markets, including scores of Indiana and Purdue university football and basketball games, if the two sides don’t reach an agreement.

Read More

New ventures expanding school sports coverage: Players large and small converge on growing niche

High school sports coverage, once found only in the back pages of local newspapers’ sports sections, is now spawning new Internet and print businesses. The players involved range from large public companies and professional sports franchises to small entrepreneurs. The effort to score with high school sports coverage appears to be driven by a growing number of advertisers interested in the diverse audience attracted to scholastic events. In recent months, High School Sports The Magazine debuted in central Indiana, Emmis…

Read More

Cummins cleans up with diesel

Less than a decade ago, diesel engines were viewed as loud pollution machines punching holes in the ozone. Now their cleaner,
quieter cousins are powering a resurgent Cummins Inc.

Read More

Colts build reputation for mastering salary cap

The Indianapolis Colts lost a slew of popular players in the off-season who were key to the team’s Super Bowl run. The defections–though
unusual for a championship team–were business as usual for a franchise that has gained a reputation around the league for
its bold personnel moves.

Read More

Fantasy football leagues concern employers

The kickoff of the National Football League season this month has many central Indiana employers fearful that fantasy will
encroach on reality. The fretfulness revolves around the start of the fantasy football season, where fans draft real players
onto make-believe teams and track their individual performances via organized Web sites.

Read More

Fieldhouse must fend off Louisville arena rival

Although the opening of a 22,000-seat arena in Louisville is still three years away, officials here are already bracing for
a raid on Indianapolis and Conseco Fieldhouse events. Several Indianapolis interests will be watching Aug. 20 as the Louisville
Arena Authority unveils designs for the arena along the Ohio River.

Read More

Skillman goes Classic: Greenwood car dealership flies under local radar while gaining attention of auto collectors nationwide

Tucked away behind hundreds of shiny new cars on the west side of U.S. 31 just south of Greenwood Park Mall is a showroom that includes some of the rarest-and highest-priced-cars in the country. The double doors to a building that looks like every other at Ray Skillman’s car dealership complex open to rows of pristine pieces of history. As eclectic as the man who opened the dealership 18 months ago, the collection of cars includes Packards alongside Pontiacs and…

Read More

Against the odds, Emmis grows publishing division: Unsung unit now one-fourth of company’s revenue

At a time when many print publishers are wringing their hands at the prospect of losing readers to the Internet, Emmis Communications Corp. is experiencing surprising growth in its magazine division. With the acquisition of Orange Coast last month, Emmis owns seven city-based magazines and one nationally distributed magazine. And the publishing division, with 406 of Emmis’ 1,300 employees, is the company’s fastest-growing. “City magazines like the ones Emmis has are doing quite well,” said Abe Peck, chairman of journalism…

Read More

One motorcycle race gained, thousands of seats lost: Speedway officials think revenue from MotoGP race will make up for Indy 500 and Brickyard 400 losses

The changes to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s road course to accommodate motorcycle racing means the track’s operators will forfeit around $500,000 annually in ticket revenue for the Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400. Due to modifications just south of pit road and directly north of the oval’s first turn, several thousand seats on the inside of the first turn will be removed after this year’s Brickyard 400. Work to prepare the track for next year’s MotoGP motorcycle race-which includes laying 13,300…

Read More

WRTV to launch massive marketing campaign: New news anchors to tour area in RV ahead of sweeps

With the pending arrival of two new lead anchors, WRTV-TV Channel 6 is preparing to embark on a big marketing campaign that station management hopes will lift it out of third place in the local ratings. The campaign, which is set to begin next month to promote changes within WRTV’s news division, will be marked by a flurry of billboard, radio, newspaper and, of course, television advertising, said WRTV General Manager Don Lundy. But the centerpiece of the campaign takes…

Read More

Advertising in high-definition still fuzzy

Production companies here say advertisements they’ve produced using high-definition technology are being held hostage by local television affiliates that have no way of showing them. The TV stations counter that they’re working as fast as they can to get up to speed.

Read More

Retailer’s growth plan boon for Plainfield facility: Dick’s Sporting Goods’ strategy to expand west will push inventory through local distribution center

Dick’s Sporting Goods’ aggressive nationwide growth plan will mean about 400 new jobs at the retailer’s Plainfield distribution center, industry experts said. Last month, Pittsburgh-based Dick’s rolled out a plan to grow from 309 stores to 800 nationwide within seven years. The plan includes growing from zero to 90 stores in California, two to 60 in Texas, and two to 40 in Florida. “Their expansion plans are so aggressive, they’re eventually going to have to open another distribution center, but…

Read More

UPDATE: Experts say loss of race hurts both F1, Speedway

Motorsports experts are divided over who is the biggest loser after the announcement that Formula One will not return in 2008 to Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “The Speedway loses one of the world’s marquee global motorsports events and F1 loses out on one of the world’s largest markets for its teams and corporate partners,” said Tim […]

Read More

2nd Globe expands in Canada: Young & Laramore founder to head new office

David Young, co-founder of one of the city’s largest advertising agencies, is packing his bags and heading for Vancouver, British Columbia. This month, Young will oversee the opening of agency Young & Laramore’s first Canadian office, which is being set up to grow the firm’s 2nd Globe division in the Pacific Northwest. 2nd Globe, a 12-year-old division dedicated to bringing art, architecture and commerce together, is the brainchild of Young and is known for its work on several high-profile central…

Read More