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Single Copy Sales Increase After R.I. Newspaper Charges for Online Access
Single Copy Sales Increase After R.I. Newspaper Charges for Online Access While Pittsburg Charges for Added Value
An experiment at the Newport (R.I.) Daily News seems to be working exactly as planned.
The newspaper is charging $345 per year (or $5 per day) for a subscription to the e-edition and access to online extras, but the newspaper is giving away online access for free with a (substantially cheaper) print subscription. Since readers cannot access the news online for free, calls to cancel print subscriptions have essentially stopped and newsstand sales are up 200 copies per day, Newsweek reported. The newspaper's print circulation is around 13,000.
Newsweek did not report on how Web traffic to the newspaper's Web site has changed or on how many people have subscribed online.
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette has launched PG+, an online section of special content available only to paying members. "The new site, hosted by a team of PG bloggers, will emphasize user interaction, with commenting throughout the site. Members also will be able to create a social networking profile to keep the conversation going," the newspaper reported. The section will also include exclusive video and online chats on content from sports to music.
Memberships (subscriptions) to PG+ are $36 per year or $3.99 per month. Membership will also include special access to newspaper events.
Read more about PG+ here.
In an article titled "Taking The Plunge: How Newspaper Sites That Charge Are Faring" paidContent.org provides an update on half a dozen local newspapers that charge for online access to their news content and have summarizes the findings with some general conclusions. They note that the newspapers tend to be located in smaller, often rural markets; online-only subscriptions are typically priced less than the print edition and that although the number of online subscribers is small, these papers say they began charging not so much to make money online, but rather to protect sales of their print editions.
For more information about the experiences of individual newspapers along with the perspective of their newspaper executives on paid content, go to NAA's special report on the issue at www.naa.org/paidcontent.
Sources: Newsweek, paidContent.org, NAA, Poynter
Published
Sep 02 2009, 06:14 PM
by
jmurray
About jmurray
John Murray came to NAA in 1997 after 18 years of newspaper marketing experience. Most of that time was in circulation management positions. But he attributes much of his career success to also having spent time in newspaper promotion, research, strategic planning, community relations, and advertising which provided a broader context to his newspaper marketing expertise.
Prior to NAA John worked at Fort Wayne Newspapers, the business agency for The News Sentinel and Journal Gazette, where he was circulation director for both papers for seven years. After graduation from Louisiana State University he was recruited by Sears for retail management assignments. He began his newspaper career at the Columbus (Ga.) Ledger-Enquirer and was a participant in Knight Ridder’s Circulation Management Development Program.
At NAA John is responsible for Audience Development initatives, and serves as resource to newspaper executives charged with marketing the newspaper to readers, and audience metrics issues. John’s is the staff liaison for the NAA/ ABC Committees and serves as a resource to our advertisers regarding newspaper circulation and readership.
Recent publications produced by the circulation marketing department include: Understanding the Value of Newspapers - The Relationship Between Price Paid and Readership, NAA’s 2009Circulation Facts, Figures and Logic and Independant Contractor Relationships.
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