rupert murdoch

Can the iPad Revive Paid Content?

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod 2 Comments Tags: , , ,

I’m not sure the free content genie can ever be completely put back in the bottle but the iPad is certainly providing newspaper and magazine publishers with a lot of encouragement that consumers could start coughing up for some content again.

Engadget has a story suggesting that the Wall St. Journal is going to charge $17.99/month for a subscription on the iPad. If WSJ owner Rupert Murdoch can pull it off, more power to him – and more revenue, in theory, to many content players looking for salvation.

The big question is whether form will change consumer behaviour. Will the user-friendly size of the iPad and the fact it can be a quasi-mobile device be a compelling enough proposition that content becomes “valuable” again? If consumers can enjoy a good experience in reading content whenever they want, is that enough to convince some of them to pay?

The answer is no one really knows until the iPad makes its way into the market, and publishers attempt to set up newsstands on it. My sense is some – but not a lot – content players will make revenue but the iPad will not be economic nirvana for the content world.

Rupert Murdoch: The Digital Don Quixote?

By Mark Evans in Media No Comments Tags: , , , ,

It has been documented to death that the business of journalism is broken but no one has come up with a widely-embraced killer idea to save it.

The exception, however, is News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch who has been leading the charge recently about introducing paywalls – something already done at the Wall St. Journal.

Now, Murdoch has raised the idea of not letting News Corp.’s Web sites be indexed by Google. In an interview with Sky News political editor David Speers, Murdoch suggests that while Google drives a lot of traffic to News Corp. sites, he’d rather have fewer people visiting but have those people pay for content.

“They shouldn’t have had it free all the time. I think we’ve been asleep,” he said after Speers asked him about the fact free online content has been around for years. “It costs us a lot of moeny to put together good newspapers and good content. [Consumers] are very happy to buy a newspaper, and I think when they read it elsewhere, they are going to have to pay.”

There are two schools of thought about Murdoch’s thoughts: He’s either one of the few people bold enough – and powerful enough – in the newspaper business to start charging people for content, or he’s a digital Don Quixote, tilting at windmills – and Google – in a chivalrous but misguided mission to bring fiscal sanity back to the newspaper business.

As someone who increasingly sees paywalls as the only plausible way for newspapers to generate enough revenue to stay relevant and viable, I admire Murdoch for embracing a tactic that many people considered to be undoable.

Like Quixote, Murdoch’s quest may bring him great melancholy and test his faith but he appears to be a man on mission.

Update: Corey Doctorow rips into Murdoch, suggesting Murdoch is lying about his threat to stop Google from indexing News Corp. sites.


Pay-Per-Play Newspapers Coming Soon

By Mark Evans in Media No Comments Tags: , , , , ,

Maybe I’m alone in the woods but it seems like it’s only a matter of time before newspapers – at least world-class newspapers – start charging for more of their content.

Case in point is the Financial Times, which plans to introduce a pay-per-view system for online content next summer, while exploring whether FT.com content should stay free. (The Guardian has more details on how the FT’s subscription model could evolve.)

It’s becoming obvious – at least to me – the online pendulum is swinging away from free. It may not swing all the way back to paid, but the free buffet is going to over soon because newspaper owners such as Rupert Murdoch have realized their investments aren’t viable under the current free system.

That said, not all newspapers are going to be able to charge for content, and newspapers will only be able to charge for certain content.

The newspapers that could implement pay-per-play would the FT, Wall St. Journal, New York Times, Washington Post, the Guardian and Telegraph.

And the chances of fee rather than free being successful would be enhanced if they climbed on the bandwagon at the same time.

Would you pay for online newspaper content, particularly if it was columns, features and in-depth stories?


Can Apple Save Newspapers?

By Mark Evans in Apple/iPod, Media 11 Comments Tags: , , , ,

(Update: The Guardian has a story that the Financial Times will introduce a pay-per-view model next summer, while looking at whether any FT.com should be free.)

With Apple apparently scrambling to introduce a tablet computer by early next year, a bigger issue to consider is whether Apple can save the newspaper business much like it has come to the rescue of the music industry.

For years, newspapers have done a terrible job of embracing the Web and reconfiguring their business structures to the new economic, advertising and readership landscape.

Even as dozens of newspapers close or became Web-only entities with skeleton staffs, the industry still hasn’t figure out how to be vibrant and viable. For many newspapers, their only salvation will be charging for online content – something Rupert Murdoch intends to introduce next summer.

So where does Apple fits into the mix, and why could it save newspapers from themselves?

Before Apple launched iTunes, the music industry was flailing to deal with the growth of P2P and the fact consumers didn’t want to pay $20 for a CD with one or two good songs.

Apple and Steve Jobs corralled the music labels by convincing them there was a better way by giving consumers a user-friendly online music-buying service. Begrudgingly, the labels agreed with Jobs’ vision, and the rest is history.

For newspapers, the Apple Tablet has the potential to provide a new, user-friendly model to reach consumers, including younger consumers who don’t read newspapers any more.

With Wi-Fi/3G access, a large screen (10″?) and Apple’s design brilliance, Apple could roll out an iNewspaper service that was either subscription-based or ad-supported.

With hardware design to read content, the Apple Tablet would give newspapers an exciting new platform to deliver content when and where consumers wanted it.

With Apple’s support, newspapers would have a solid economic model as a key element of the iNewspaper service as opposed to trying a wide variety of different models.

The iNewspaper service would be easy to use, intuitive and compelling, which would encourage consumers to maybe even pay for content.

What do you think? Can Apple save the newspaper business to the same degree it has helped the music industry?


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