The New Republic, the American political magazine, is banking on a new subscription plan: They are putting up a $30 paywall starting April 7.
Some content on TNR.com will be available for free, including blog posts, online-only columns and some features. But most long-form magazine articles will be kept behind a paywall.
TNR will offer three premium pay plans:
$29.97 for access to all online content.
$39.97 for a year's subscription to the print edition, digital and e-reader versions, plus online access.
$44.97 for TNR Society, which provides home delivery of the print edition, Web access, online archives, and insider newsletters, articles, and invitations to high-profile events.
The New Republic has a million unique visitors each month. Traffic increased by 30% and total ad revenue tripled during the first quarter, according to the magazine.
But the magazine plans on risking some of those ad dollars and traffic for bundled pricing plans.
Editor Frank Foer said in the release: "Our long-form journalism is the product of intensive reporting and extensive editing, an incredible investment of time and resources. When it appears in print, we put a price tag on it-and we're committed to doing the same online.
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The question of how successful a paywall will be for news sites has been analyzed by newspaper and magazine executives extensively. If a company decides to implement a paywall structure they are subjecting themselves to a certain level of risk. Newsday learned their lesson from experience. The newspaper, which can be read via this link http://www.newsday.com, recently redesigned its online edition at a cost of $4 million. This redesign included a paywall. The end result of this $4 million investment: 35 users. They obtained 35 subscribers, which grossed about $9,000 in revenues. I do not know what Newsday's estimated profit potential was as a result of the redesign but 35 subscribers seems a little low. I obtained all of this information in an article which can be accessed via this link: http://www.businessinsider.com/only-35-people-will-pay-to-get-past-newsdays-paywall-2010-1 It appears that some people will read the news if it is free and will not read if there is a cost. An interesting video of people interviewed, while walking in Times Square, illustrates their personal feelings about paying for news content. This video and a blog about newspaper paywalls can be accessed via this link: http://www.businessinsider.com/business-news/feb-1-paywall-2010-2
ReplyDeleteInformative post. I'd like to get your thoughts on it.
ReplyDeleteJust as a sidenote, it's quite similar to:
http://www.businessinsider.com/the-new-republics-30-paywall-goes-up-tomorrow-2010-4
Did that website steal your material before you posted it here?
If so, you should contact them and tell them to stop plagiarizing.
What is starnge about this new wave of online subscription is that, for the way it has been proposed, an online subscription is more expensive than a printed one.
ReplyDeleteThe magazine offer the following choice ( plus another one ):
- $29.97 for access to all online content.
- $39.97 for a year's subscription to the print edition, digital and e-reader versions, plus online access.
It means that the pure online subscription is $10 more than the printed edition: $20 online plus $10 printed. It would have been more understandable the opposite given all the issue about the cost saving benefits allowed by internet.
Of course, this will not change the future it seems we all are moving toward: a switch from "tangible" to "intangible" and we have to accept it...willy nilly.