O.K, TimesSelect was a failure (sorry, a success, but an ad model was better) we are told. And there a lot of believers out there who want you to believe that there is no future in paid content.
I disagree.
On the reader side there is heaps of content I would pay for, content I shamelessly nick and post in full on this blog just to demonstrate the fact that there is content that I personally would pay for and don't have to.
On the ad side, a lot of these ad networks (300 by last count?) are delivering poor value to advertisers because their metrics systems are poor (at best).
And, back to the reader, they are often annoying, and for the advertiser don't offer the impact of print. Way, way too much inventory and poor industry pricing models.
There are people who don't run with the sheep, the FT is one of them.
Where we're at with the Internet and media is NOT a crisis point but THE VERY VERY BEGINNING of what will come: better thought out models - that exploit audience fragmentation, not fight against it; better technology for monetizing content; changing user demands and habits.
I hate the cliche carpe diem, but this is the day to go for it.
When is the NYT Company going to demonstrate they can do this?
FT.com focuses on "quality not quantity (Editors Weblog)
Posted by Alisa Zykova on October 28, 2008 at 10:29 AM
As we reported yesterday, FT.com has launched the Long Room page on the Alphaville blog. In an interview today, Managing Editor Robert Grimshaw reported that the website will not be participating in monthly traffic measures by the UK's Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic (ABCes), because its focus is on "quality not quantity."
Grimshaw said that online news sources in the UK that have cut back on advertising and stopped charging for their content may experience difficulties in the future in the event of declines in advertising revenue. "We think it's philosophically right. We've produced some hugely valuable content and we know for a fact that our users are prepared to pay for it," says Grimshaw. "It's about using the flexibility of the access model and the business model overall."Grimshaw thinks that his site's competitors are too reliant on the advertising industry, whereas FT.com aspires to "carve out its own path online," according to Journalism.co.uk.
Long Room's content will adhere to FT.com's business structure and will be "high-level" and "intellectually charged", but will not propagate "expertise."
In March, the site attained 7.1 million users, although it is more interested in the 500,000 to a million senior users.
Source: Journalism.co.uk
http://www.editorsweblog.org/multimedia/2008/10/uk_ftcom_focuses_on_quality_not_quantity.php
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