[opendtv] Re: Murdoch to launch premium news for mobiles

  • From: Craig Birkmaier <craig@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
  • Date: Tue, 17 Aug 2010 08:44:38 -0400

At 2:14 PM -0500 8/16/10, Manfredi, Albert E wrote:
Presumably, another example of attempting to obtain dual revenue streams? $4/week sounds steep to me, so even those who do pay would be unlikely to pay that same fee for as many publications as they are used to viewing on the Internet.

I think these guys have a tough row to hoe. We're past the era when people were loyal to their one newspaper, and bothered reading it cover to cover. IMO.

The Wall Stree Journal was one of the first papers to go to a subscription model for its website; this happened long before Murdoch bought it. Because it a "business resource," they seem to get away with it, although the number of subscribers is relatively small:

From Wikipedia:

The Journal is the largest newspaper in the United States by circulation. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 2.1 million copies (including 400,000 online paid subscriptions) as of March 2010.

An annual subscription to the print version is about $343 and includes access to the online version. The subscription to the online version is $103/yr or $8.62 per month. Even if you subscribe to one of these services, you must still pay for the mobile subscription, which is currently offered for $1.50/wk for the first year.

I agree that it may be a tough road to hoe to get the public to pay subscriber fees for print media, whether for wired or mobile subscribers, but it certainly looks like this is where things are headed.

For certain, reading the "dead tree" versions is on the way out, and for good reasons.

1. Expensive to produce and distribute;
2. Limted in presentation compared with digital, which can provide print, high resolution images, audio, video and complex graphics (including animations).

Time will tell.

Regards
Craig




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