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After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday's Web Site

zimmer

Educating the Ignorant
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OUCH!
Can't wait for the NY Times to go pay for access.

After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday's Web Site | The New York Observer

In late October, Newsday, the Long Island daily that the Dolans bought for $650 million, put its web site, newsday.com, behind a pay wall...Could its fate be a sign of what others, including The New York Times, might expect?

So, three months later, how many people have signed up to pay $5 a week, or $260 a year, to get unfettered access to newsday.com?

"I heard you say 35 people," he said, from Newsday's auditorium in Melville. "Is that number correct?"

Mr. Jimenez nodded.

The web site redesign and relaunch cost the Dolans $4 million, according to Mr. Jimenez. With those 35 people, they've grossed about $9,000.

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OUCH!
Can't wait for the NY Times to go pay for access.



.

To be fair, News Day isn't the NY Times.

Some professors require students to read from the New York Times, so they might be able to get the strange liberal professors who are looking for a stupid way to bring current events into class discussion.
 
Well, I guess we can chalk up another business model that doesn't work...

But that happens in private industry. If this were a government effort, there would be all kinds of spin about "social benefit" and the need to require every web site to hide behind the pay wall in order to provide a level playing field...:roll:
 
Well, I guess we can chalk up another business model that doesn't work...

But that happens in private industry. If this were a government effort, there would be all kinds of spin about "social benefit" and the need to require every web site to hide behind the pay wall in order to provide a level playing field...:roll:

Is it the business model or the product that is faulty?

The WSJ has a pay to read system... and they are doing just fine.
 
Is it the business model or the product that is faulty?

The WSJ has a pay to read system... and they are doing just fine.
In this case, probably both; in particular, it is a bad business model for that product. I get WSJ in hardcopy and that gives me online privileges as well, but I think their audience is much wider than Newsday's. There is no chance at all that I would pay subscription prices to get my local newspaper (or even the NYT) online but, if I was a serious investor and traveled a lot I would certainly spring for the WSJ.
 
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