Infinite Path

The top bods at Bild, Europe’s most popular newspaper, have decided to force the issue when it comes to their content and how it will be paid for in the future.

The newspaper has taken the decision to essentially force people to pay for their news content via iphone apps, primarily. They have managed to do this by taking the drastic step of blocking users from accessing their online version of the newspaper on mobile internet clients. Users will therefore have no option but to pay for the content if they want to continue reading new articles. The app itself will carry a small charge while the recurring revenue will come from top-up payments for new articles. The newspaper is incredibly popular and so it is hoped that users will be willing to pay up. However, with free content everywhere on the internet, will loyal users now move elsewhere to find the same news for free from another provider?

Online content delivery is turning into a nightmare for most providers. The big news organisations are seeing huge traffic levels to their websites, but finding no way of generating revenue from them. People are not buying printed newspapers as they were 10 – or even five – years ago and there is a visible thinking from many, that they should be entitled to view everything that they paid for in the past, online, and for free.

This model is not sustainable. Journalists are still being paid, newspaper organisations are still in business – and obviously have associated costs – and growth and innovation is just not possible. The belief that content should be available for free has to change.

Bild, and other such organisations such as News International, are trying to make this point by introducing a paid-for model. However, content has been available online, for free, for far too long now. People are used to it and are therefore resistant to change. There is much opposition and formerly loyal readers are moving elsewhere.

Iphone users are willing to pay for apps. They’re not always willing to pay much, but the model has always been a paid-for one. This is probably the best way to introduce a new way of charging for content. As people are already paying for apps, they will be more inclined to pay for a news application – especially if they like the content already available.

The telling point will be if these same people who buy the app are also prepared to pay a recurring charge for new content. If they are, then the game will have changed. If that same model can be rolled out across the sector, we will see a positive transition and potentially sustainable position for the news providers. If people aren’t willing to pay though, and they go elsewhere in a continued quest for free information, the amount of quality, regular content may reduce and change forever.