Comments on: Paywalls and cannibalization

By: SWARMtheBANKS

SWARMtheBANKS — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 08:05:03 +0000

I’m surprised that newspapers have not come up with their own version of groupon, something like newpon, and offer their readers great deals.

By: friez

friez — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 05:19:04 +0000

I remember growing up in the 60′s and 70′s listening to the Indy 500 on radio. The owner, Tony Hulman, for years prohibited the live broadcast of the annual race on television, thinking that if people got it for free, no one would fill the stands. He sure left a lot of money on the table all those years.

By: Lilguy

Lilguy — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 02:48:49 +0000

Besides the paywall issue, a second important issue is the obsolescence of the 24-hour newspaper cycle (which may or may not include weekends).

For the most part, newspapers generally remain stuck in the single output per day, crises & weather events excepted.

Besides moving to free access online, they must move to a business model of continuous news updates 24X7. Otherwise, they will lose their online readership as well.

By: WHS

WHS — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:59:38 +0000

But here’s the thing, RZ0 — if your newspaper stopped putting its content online, would you immediately resubscribe to it, or would you turn to other online sources?

I can’t say for certain, but it seems likely to me that as long as free quality reporting is available online, you’re going to stick to that.

Struggling print publications aren’t really competing against their own content on the internet. They’re competing against the collective existence of internet news sources. In other words, the internet reduces overall willingness to buy something in print. But even though I’m less likely to buy print material, my criteria for doing so hasn’t really changed: I’m still going to gravitate towards sources I know and trust.

By: RZ0

RZ0 — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 01:25:14 +0000

I would support Felix’s argument except: I canceled my newspaper one-and-a-half years ago and don’t miss it, as I can satisfy my information needs online.
And I don’t have a stack of papers to toss out every week.
Oh, and I used to be a newspaper reporter.

By: Curmudgeon

Curmudgeon — Tue, 01 Feb 2011 00:10:45 +0000

>> By putting up a paywall, the FT manages to corral, count, and sell such subscribers online . . .

Hmmm. The FT can do that without the paywall, through a combination of IP addresses and tracking cookies. Everything but names, and I believe they could probably even get those if they wanted them enough.