NYT has a story today on how newspapers are dealing with the free online content issue:
Consumers are willing to spend millions of dollars on the Web when it comes to music services like iTunes and gaming sites like Xbox Live. But when it comes to online news, they are happy to read it but loath to pay for it.
Newspaper Web sites have been so popular that at some newspapers, including The New York Times, the number of people who read the paper online now surpasses the number who buy the print edition.
This migration of readers is beginning to transform the newspaper industry. Advertising revenue from online sites is booming and, while it accounts for only 2 percent or 3 percent of most newspapers’ overall revenues, it is the fastest-growing source of revenue. And newspaper executives are watching anxiously as the number of online readers grows while the number of print readers declines.
One wonders whether, once the number of blogs that rely on mainstream media for content rises to critical mass, there will be a big move to make bloggers pay for the content. Would you pay for the content if you could give your readers a paid permalink for the content you used?
Note: case study of effects of monopoly – in Canada, there is really only one credible National newspaper – the Globe and Mail. It requires a paid sub for much of the best online content. On the other hand, in the US, according to the NYT story:
Of the nation’s 1,456 daily newspapers, only one national paper, The Wall Street Journal, which is published by Dow Jones & Company, and about 40 small dailies charge readers to use their Web sites. Other papers charge for either online access to portions of their content or offer online subscribers additional features.