[OPLIN 4cast] OPLIN 4cast #360: Paying for content
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Wed Nov 13 10:30:08 EST 2013
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OPLIN 4Cast
OPLIN 4cast #360: Paying for content
November 13th, 2013
dollar signLibrarians have often faced the problem of explaining the
need to pay for subscriptions to online magazines, journals, and
authoritative information resources. People seem to think that good
online information can be accessed for free, and currently a lot of good
information can indeed be had online for no charge. But in the words of
the Libraries Connect Ohio website
<http://librariesconnectohio.org/#mozTocId953097>, "Authoritative
information has never been and will never be free." Most "free"
information is currently subsidized by advertising on the website, but
the ad-supported revenue model is beginning to weaken. As people become
more accustomed to paying for online video, music, and gaming content,
text content is now increasingly turning to the subscription revenue
model, too, with newspapers worldwide being the most visible example.
* News Corp says online news can make money
<http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/latest/news-corp-posts-us38m-profit/story-e6frg90f-1226757823302>
(The Australian/Greg Roberts) "Australians continue to buy fewer
hard copy newspapers, with domestic mastheads such as The
Australian, Herald Sun and others responsible for 70 per cent of
that fall and newspaper circulation and subscription revenues down
6.0 per cent. Many of the newspaper websites are now behind paywalls
as it tries to monetise increasing online readerships, which have
not been matched by online ad revenue. [...] Chief executive Robert
Thompson told analysts in a teleconference in the US that while ad
revenues had to rise the company wanted to become less ad-dependent
and more subscription focused."
* Digital subscriptions to the Times and Sunday Times top 150,000
<http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/oct/17/digital-subscriptions-times-sunday-news-uk>
(The Guardian/Josh Halliday) "Emma Tucker, the recently-appointed
Times deputy editor, described the figures as 'incredibly exciting'
for the future of the title. 'The paywall was a real challenge for
everybody in the paper to get it to fly so this shows a great belief
in paid-for content,' she said. 'We had detractors [when the Times
launched its paywall in 2010] but these figures show you can make a
success of it.' Tucker said she believed there is now less hostility
to paid-for models than three years ago, when its paywall divided
industry opinion in the absence of a a clear cut digital business
model for general interest newspapers."
* Digital subscription gains outpace print decline for Chicago Tribune
<http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-10-31/business/chi-digital-subscription-gains-outpace-print-decline-for-chicago-tribune-20131031_1_circulation-totals-sunday-circulation-digital-and-branded-editions>
(Chicago Tribune/Robert Channick) "One year after launching its
online pay wall, the Tribune is clearly gaining some digital
traction. The newspaper said it has more than 693,000 registered
users on chicagotribune.com, which is up from about 230,000 a year
ago. Traffic on the website averaged more than 116 million monthly
page views, up nearly 12 percent over last year, according to
executives."
* Are the days of free content on the net numbered?
<http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24759239> (BBC News/Orin
Gordon) "[Computer science engineer Robert] Cailliau thinks that
monthly subscriptions are too expensive and restrictive. He says the
pay-as-you-go mobile phone model is a great one for online content.
'When you send an SMS, you pay a small amount of money. Each
individual action should be billed individually,' he says. 'My
browser should pay you automatically a cent or two cents per page
without me feeling it. I should not have to prepay a large amount of
money. Why re-invent? The telephone already does that. We already
have a worldwide system that's capable of billing the customer for
every move he makes.'"
*/Revenue fact:/*
According to 2012 data
<http://www.naa.org/Trends-and-numbers/newspaper-Revenue/newspaper-media-Industry-Revenue-Profile-2012.aspx>
compiled by the Newspaper Association of America, newspaper advertising
revenue declined 6%, circulation revenue increased 5% (and digital-only
circulation revenue grew 275%), and about 10% of all newspaper revenue
now comes from new revenue sources, such as consulting fees for helping
local businesses market their products online.
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