George Dearing dot com

 

FT's CEO On Its Paywall Strategy

The subscriptions model is a more predictable guide to income, allowing for better planning and investment."

But that was not the only plus. "What we hadn't realised, and what may turn out to be bigger benefit, is that it provides a deeper understanding our audience.

"Without contravening people's privacy, the data supplied by users enables us to know much more about them, allowing us to observe patterns of interest and trends.

"In editorial terms, it allows for a degree of engagment. On the marketing front, it is very powerful indeed. We can target much more efficiently, and it gives us ideas about product development."

via guardian.co.uk

Filed under  //   digital+media   FT   media+companies   paidcontent  
Posted July 27, 2010
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UK consumers prefer free content to privacy

KPMG’s Consumers & Convergence IV report, an annual global survey of consumers’ use of mobile and PC technology, found that 81% of people in the UK would go elsewhere if previously free sites began charging for content.
via nma.co.uk

Filed under  //   monetization   paidcontent  
Posted July 26, 2010
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A new journalism on the horizon [BBC]

This leads me to think that perhaps Rupert Murdoch's pay wall gamble is a better bet than the Guardian figures currently suggest; but that the proposition will need to be redefined.

People pay for magazines, television channels, DVDs and endless apps. The notion that they shouldn't ever pay for news is actually quite bizarre and a historic anomaly.

I'm interested in politics, social policy, business, technology and the arts. I am not interested in sport, fashion, property, crime stories or celebrity.

In this new world, where I'm being sold new propositions, I no longer see why I should buy material I'm not interested in, just because it's been bundled up by one publisher rather than another. Am I alone? I'll pay. I'll buy. But I want to be more discriminating.

via bbc.co.uk

Filed under  //   BBC   digital+business   news   online+journalism   paidcontent  
Posted July 25, 2010
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The Continuing Debate Over Paid Content

News Corp.'s Miller also said tablet computers such as Apple's iPad offered great opportunities for the news industry to develop paid applications.

The iPad and other tablet computers being developed offer "very media rich experiences that I think do allow a re-set, perhaps a do-over for the media industry, a chance to get it right," Miller said.

Sugar dismissed a belief in applications as a potential saviour for a traditional news industry he said was grasping at straws.

"For content publishers I think like every eight to 12 months there's the new shiny object you can go to (advertising) agencies with, and I think apps for content companies are currently that," Sugar said.

"They need something to hang their hat on and the hat is apps," he said.

via news.yahoo.com

Filed under  //   media+strategy   paidcontent  
Posted July 25, 2010
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Washington Post’s Sheikholeslami on "online vs. mobile"

—Online vs. Mobile: “We do treat them as separate platforms, I think that the users’ expectations are different on the two platforms and we want to make sure we build for the mobile platform. We’re focused on the fact that it’s a different screen size, people are usually sort of in transit, on the go, also, on the iPhone in the app store, the expectation from customers to pay for digital content is there as well. It also gives us a place where we can experiment. We do think that readers and users will pay for content that’s unique and customized, valuable experiences.”
via paidcontent.org

Filed under  //   cross-platform   digital+media   mobile   Online   paidcontent   washington+post  
Posted March 4, 2010
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Like this quote on "Freemium"

Says McClure, "There is a role for freemium, but unless you missed the TPS report the FREE part is only a loss-leader for the MEE-YUM part -- it's a test-drive before you buy something. If your users are just kicking the tires then you need to kick them to the curb eventually.
via readwriteweb.com

Filed under  //   freemium   paidcontent  
Posted February 1, 2010
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A Quick Thought On Paid Content After Seeing Rafat Ali On Beet.TV

Rafat Ali mentions how the pay wall efforts may subside as the ad market picks back up. I think the larger challenge is what mix media companies bring to the table for their constituencies. Conventional wisdom points to a hybrid model -- combining micro-payments and the typical monthly and annual subscription scenarios. Talking that a bit further is where it gets interesting. AOL, Demand Media and others are aggressively pursuing the citizen journalist. You have to think the media companies that can monetize those types of ancillary channels are the ones that'll have the head start in 2010. What do you think. What else are you seeing?

Filed under  //   advertising   AOL   beet.tv   content+strategy   demand+media   media   paidcontent  
Posted December 29, 2009
// 0 Comments