A report by Lightspeed Research revealed this week that consumers in the UK won’t pay for their online news content. We have all heard about Rupert Murdoch’s plan to move to a paid for content business model. Personally, I think this is a very risky strategy but the newspapers certainly have to do something to combat their dwindling circulation figures.
I definitely think it is time for the newspaper industry to start evolving and looking for potential revenue streams. However, I don’t think this is the answer and I still think that paid for content simply won’t work on news across the board. That said, I can see people paying for a really topical story, which is published as an exclusive, such as a one-off video of a really high profile/important event.
An article in Brand Republic states the survey identified:
“91% of UK consumers would be unwilling to pay for news online and 90% would be unwilling to pay for news analysis. Of those aged 16 to 24, 86% would never pay for news online, while in the 45 to 54 age sectors, 96% said they would not pay.
“In addition, only 5% of UK consumers would be happy to pay for each piece of news content online, while just 4% would be happy to take out a subscription for online news content.”
These are interesting statistics and they certainly represent some of the people I have spoken to also. The survey also found that almost half (46%) of people said they would pay for music and TV (43%) downloads and I have to agree that I would (and do) pay for these too.
I think it’s safe to say that the public have spoken here as 90% is pretty convincing. Rupert, I suggest you review your online strategy now before it’s too late!
