R.I.P TimesSelect?

from the good-riddance dept

The New York Times' plan to lock up its premium content known as TimesSelect was a terrible idea to begin with, and every piece of data that came out about it merely confirmed that the program was unpopular. Sure, the company drew a modest amount of revenue from it, but in exchange it severely limited the exposure of its top columnists, not to mention all of the foregone advertising revenue from the lower traffic. Now comes word that the paper is set to pull the plug on the offering (via Romenesko). At this point, it's still just a rumor, but either way, the company has to arrive at this conclusion eventually. Newspaper publishers cling to the dream that one day all of their content will be safely behind paywalls and that readers will suddenly wake up with an allergy to money and favor this model. But the trend is only moving one direction, as there's even talk about the Wall Street Journal, the one paper that's had a moderate amount of success charging for access, making its content free.

Filed Under: media, newspapers, timesselect
Companies: new york times

Does Sale Of Dow Jones Mean The End Of The Paywall?

from the freedom dept

With News Corp.'s purchase of Dow Jones now all but certain, there's a lot of discussion about whether Rupert Murdoch will pull a Mikhail Gorbachev and tear down that (pay)wall at the Wall Street Journal. Yesterday we argued that if the Financial Times wants to raise its profile in the US, it should do just that, as a way of differentiating itself from the Journal. At this point, there's no way of knowing whether Murdoch will make the move first and preempt Pearson (parent company of the Financial Times). You have to figure that he has other things on his mind right now than how best to monetize the Wall Street Journal online. But, seeing as part of the deal's rationale is to bolster the credibility of Fox's forthcoming business channel, it makes sense to make the Journal's content more widely available. Another possibility, put forward by the founder of MarketWatch (also a Dow Jones property), is to tie MarketWatch in with Fox, leaving the Journal as it is, a premium offering for non-retail investors. But, realistically, the MarketWatch brand doesn't carry near the value that the Journal does -- if Murdoch is really intent on bolstering its business channel, it has to do it by leveraging the Journal.

Filed Under: media
Companies: dow jones, news corp, pearson

Are British Papers Going To Start Demanding Payments From Drudge?

from the this-is-a-local-paper,-for-local-people dept

While some British newspapers have realized that Google (and other sites that send them traffic) are helpful to them, there are still plenty that feel like Google should be paying them, for some reason. It's a strange argument: Google sends them traffic and readers, yet should be paying for that "privilege"? If the papers can't figure out how to monetize the traffic Google and other sites send them, that's their own problem. Now comes word, though, that The Drudge Report sends UK papers more than three times the amount of traffic that Google does -- so will the papers start making noise about suing Drudge for a cut of his ad revenue? The editorial director of a UK news outfit illustrates the backwards mentality some papers have by saying "You are just paying an awful lot of bandwidth and an awful lot of server costs to serve those people." Well, if that's such a concern, why have a web presence at all? That would drive bandwidth and server costs down to pretty much zero. Instead of seeing international visitors and the additional traffic they generate as a burden, they should be seen for what they are -- an opportunity to further grow revenues and profits.

Filed Under: britain, media, newspapers
Companies: drudge report, google

Pearson Mulls Possibilities To Exploit News Corp./Dow Jones

from the the-next-move dept

By all accounts, News Corp.'s bid for Dow Jones is coming down to the wire, although the latest indication is that the deal is likely to go through. If the deal does happen, one of the big winners could be Pearson, the publisher of the Financial Times, which has been making an aggressive push to expand its global presence and present itself as an alternative to the Wall Street Journal. Already, the company has indicated that it would like to partner up with another major media organization in order to promote its brand. One possibility would be to partner up with CNBC if News Corp. decides to sever Dow Jones' relationship with the business news network. In addition to striking such a partnership, Pearson should be looking to open up its content as a way of differentiating the Financial Times from the Wall Street Journal. At the moment, the sites of both papers are largely locked down, with most content available to subscribers only. Were the Financial Times to take down this wall, opening up its best content to the public, it wouldn't be hard to imagine the paper usurping some of the Journal's influence.

Filed Under: media
Companies: dow jones, news corp, pearson

News Corp. Looks Set To Lock Down Dow Jones

from the just-about dept

After months of negotiations, News Corp.'s bid for Dow Jones looks like it's close to completion. A tentative agreement still needs to be ratified by the full board, but barring any last minute surprises, it seems as though the original offer of $5 billion will stand. The timing is great for News Corp., as it recently set a date for the launch of its business channel, and it will undoubtedly use the Dow Jones brand to bolster the channel's credibility, helping it take on the industry leader, CNBC. It's safe to assume that there are various measures in place designed to prevent Rupert Murdoch from radically changing the Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones' crown jewel, but ultimately, once the Bancroft family hands over the keys, all bets are off.

Filed Under: media
Companies: dow jones, news corp