World Association of News Publishers


‘Freemium”: A New Revenue Model for Newspapers

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‘Freemium”: A New Revenue Model for Newspapers

Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany – 2009-10-08

Deutsch A radical transformation of the newspaper editorial and business models is underway, and it goes far beyond the current "pay wall"; debate about charging for on-line content.

Deutsch A radical transformation of the newspaper editorial and business models is underway, and it goes far beyond the current "pay wall"; debate about charging for on-line content.

These strategies call for reorganising editorial and business departments, focusing on premium content, and above all, good storytelling, according to the Innovation International Media Consulting Group, which will make a major presentation around these ideas at the World Newspaper Congress, World Editors Forum and Info Services Expo 2009, to be held in Hyderabad, India, from 30 November to 3 December next.

Full details of the events can be found at www.wanindia2009.com.

The 2009 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers is always a major attraction of the Congress, Forum and Expo, the global summit meetings of the world's press, but never more so than this year. "We outline the content propositions that can make you a lot of money";, said Juan Senor, a Partner in Innovations.

Innovations is not an advocate of building "pay walls"; for current content. "All this talk about pay walls, we've been here before, we should ban the words,"; said Mr Senor. "You must create new spaces with new content propositions.";

"The newspaper formula that we're still following is the formula that was developed by William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer at the turn of the century. We need to reinvent that,"; he said. "You need to offer different content propositions and different structures.";

The presentation, to a combined Congress and Forum audience of publishers, CEOs, chief editors, managing directors and other senior newspaper executives from around the world, will focus on actual cases of newspapers that are succeeding with a "freemium"; model - combining free content with premium content that people are willing to pay for. "What people want in the morning now is not the news from the day before,"; said Senor.

In print, newspapers should open with "really clever news summaries"; followed by exceptional, compelling storytelling.

Online, news and opinion will likely remain free, Mr Senor contends, supported by advertising. But archives and other premium content can be created and exploited in new ways. For example, because newspapers remain a credible information source, customers would be willing to pay for specialized reports - street reports for house hunters, cosmetic surgery reports for people considering plastic surgery, consumer reports, school guides, and so on.

But this will require a complete reorganisation of the newspaper company, what Senor calls "integration from the newsroom to the boardroom.";

In the Congress and Forum presentation, Innovation will show how to transform news organisations from being product-driven to audience-driven. Even traditional newsroom titles must change - Editors-in-chief become "Chief Content Coordinators";, while section editors transform into "Macro Editors"; focused on specific audiences - business people, parents, etc.

"The future of newspapers is premium - like haute couture rather than ready-to-wear.";

The 2009 Global Report on Innovations in Newspapers is one of dozens of Congress and Forum presentations on cutting edge business and editorial strategies. Full details, including the programmes for business sessions and social events, registration and other information can be found at www.wanindia2009.com.

WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world's newspapers and news publishers. It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. The organisation was created by the merger of the World Association of Newspapers and IFRA, the research and service organisation for the news publishing industry.

Inquiries to: Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA, 7 rue Geoffroy St Hilaire, 75005 Paris France. Tel: +33 1 47 42 85 00. Fax: +33 1 47 42 49 48. Mobile: +33 6 10 28 97 36. E-mail: larry.kilman@wan-ifra.org.

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