 | | Let this be a lesson to them Let this be a lesson to any media outlets that are thinking of doing something like this. Unless you have a very specialized product that isn't available anywhere else, you're flirting with disaster.
Oh Rupert, I so hope that you try this. | |
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 | cacoPremium
join:2005-03-10
Whittier, AK
1 edit | Re: Let this be a lesson to them You forgot to include the New York Times. It is planning on going behind a pay wall at end of the year. I'm sure the news sent chills up the owners of Times.
The pay wall only works if all news outlets do it because as long as there is another source for same news and that source is free then I don't see many buyers.
How much are you willing to pay for news from Newsday,NYT or News Corp?
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Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason. | |
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| |  n2jtx
join:2001-01-13
Glen Head, NY | Re: Let this be a lesson to them said by caco:I'm sure the news sent chills up the owners of Times. Of course not!
(SARCASM)
You see, they are smarter then everyone else and they will do it right. You just have to read their editorials to realize they are way smarter than the rest of us.
(/SARCASM)
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I support the right to keep and arm bears. | |
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|  BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by ISurfTooMuch:Let this be a lesson to any media outlets that are thinking of doing something like this. Unless you have a very specialized product that isn't available anywhere else, you're flirting with disaster. Oh Rupert, I so hope that you try this. Rupert thinks because this works for WSJ it will work for all newspapers. First WSJ is specialized. Second the kind of people that read WSJ have money and have no qualms for paying for shit like this. | |
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| | | | Re: Let this be a lesson to them As a Cablevision customer I get Newsday online, but I gave up on using it after the redesign. It's way too busy and annoying to deal with. | |
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| | | | | Re: Let this be a lesson to them same here, is "too busy" | |
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|  pnh102Reptiles Are Cuddly And PrettyPremium
join:2002-05-02
Mount Airy, MD
1 edit | said by ISurfTooMuch:Oh Rupert, I so hope that you try this. Didn't he make the web version of the Wall Street Journal free after he bought it?
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"Net Neutrality" zealots - the people you can thank for your capped Internet service. | |
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| | Reviews:
 ·Verizon FiOS
| Re: Let this be a lesson to them said by pnh102:Didn't he make the web version of the Wall Street Journal free after he bought it? I think they made it so selected articles can be viewed, but the rest is behind the paywall.
in addition, there is a workaround they know about but have not blocked yet: if you google the title of the article, you can get a link that takes you to the full article, even if it is behind the paywall.
that's OK, the WSJ is starting it's rightward shift in it's business reporting, so eventually nobody is going to want to read it for that anymore anyway. | |
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| | |  Doctor FourMy other vehicle is a TARDISPremium
join:2000-09-05
Dallas, TX | Re: Let this be a lesson to them said by nasadude:that's OK, the WSJ is starting it's rightward shift in it's business reporting, so eventually nobody is going to want to read it for that anymore anyway. Foot, meet gun, Rupert Murdoch.
The same may occur with the NYT. They tried putting their online content behind a paywall once, and it didn't go over well with their readers.
If they are going to charge a monthly access fee just to read a few articles, many are going to go elsewhere as they will think it isn't worth it, especially during a recession.
But they do appear to be considering allowing a few free monthly readings.
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"The trouble with computers, of course, is that they are very sophisticated idiots." - Doctor Who (from Robot)
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| | | yup........go ahead and kill your company rupert | |
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| | For 35 users they could hand deliver papers to each subscribers door with a muffin and coffee each morning. Wow. | |
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|  RockCakePremium
join:2005-07-12
Woodbridge, VA
·Verizon FiOS
| Re: For 35 users said by expert007:they could hand deliver papers to each subscribers door with a muffin and coffee each morning. Wow. I'd sign up for that! 
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"Come, come Maurice. What is a simple bite on the buttocks among friends?" | |
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| |  Camelot OnePremium,MVM
join:2001-11-21
Greenwood, IN
kudos:1 | Re: For 35 users said by RockCake:said by expert007:For 35 users they could hand deliver papers to each subscribers door with a muffin and coffee each morning. Wow. I'd sign up for that! At $5 PER WEEK for access to their online site, thats exactly what they should be doing. That pricing is just insane. News outlets MIGHT be able to pull off nickle and diming us to death, but pricing like this is never going to fly. | |
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| | | | said by RockCake:said by expert007:they could hand deliver papers to each subscribers door with a muffin and coffee each morning. Wow. I'd sign up for that! yeah but knowing Cablevision/Newsday it'd be cold watery coffee and stale muffins covered with mold  | |
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 DaveDudeNo Fear
join:1999-09-01
New Jersey
kudos:1 | surprised its that high I saw this and wasnt surprised at all. Advertising is the way to go. Plus most people like non-annoying advertising. | |
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| | | Re: surprised its that high said by DaveDude:I saw this and wasnt surprised at all. Advertising is the way to go. Plus most people like non-annoying advertising. I can't stand ANY form of advertising. Simply because products are thrown in my face that I have absolutely no use for. I'm a guy, so it is very annoying to see advertisements for tampons. Unless I missed something in High School Sexuality 101....
Now, if TV shows and online content showed me commercials for stuff like video games, useful software products that I might buy (not some enterprise level software), and technology I may be interested in seeing what they have to say. | |
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| | openbox9Premium
join:2004-01-26
japan
kudos:2 | Re: surprised its that high That's exactly what several ISPs were (are?) hoping to achieve by analyzing your traffic and content viewing patterns. Ironically, this site lashes out every time this topic makes it to the front page. | |
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| |  cdruGo ColtsPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-14
Fort Wayne, IN
kudos:7 | said by k1ll3rdr4g0n:I can't stand ANY form of advertising. Simply because products are thrown in my face that I have absolutely no use for. I'm a guy, so it is very annoying to see advertisements for tampons. Unless I missed something in High School Sexuality 101.... Perhaps you shouldn't be visiting Cosmopolitan.com, BopAndTigerBeat.com, and Oprah.com. I've never seen a tampon add on ESPN.com, FieldAndStream.com, or HotRod.com.  | |
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| | |  DrModemPremium
join:2006-10-19
USA
kudos:1
 ·exede by ViaSat
| Re: surprised its that high said by cdru:said by k1ll3rdr4g0n:I can't stand ANY form of advertising. Simply because products are thrown in my face that I have absolutely no use for. I'm a guy, so it is very annoying to see advertisements for tampons. Unless I missed something in High School Sexuality 101.... Perhaps you shouldn't be visiting Cosmopolitan.com, BopAndTigerBeat.com, and Oprah.com. I've never seen a tampon add on ESPN.com, FieldAndStream.com, or HotRod.com. I've never seen an ad anywhere at all | |
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| |  r81984Fair and BalancedPremium
join:2001-11-14
Katy, TX
 ·row44
·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T DSL Service
| said by k1ll3rdr4g0n:said by DaveDude:I saw this and wasnt surprised at all. Advertising is the way to go. Plus most people like non-annoying advertising. I can't stand ANY form of advertising. Simply because products are thrown in my face that I have absolutely no use for. I'm a guy, so it is very annoying to see advertisements for tampons. Unless I missed something in High School Sexuality 101.... Now, if TV shows and online content showed me commercials for stuff like video games, useful software products that I might buy (not some enterprise level software), and technology I may be interested in seeing what they have to say. If harmless advertising that you don't like means free content and jobs for Americans then who cares.
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Republicans: less fiscally conservative than that other party. | |
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Reviews:
 ·Optimum Online
| lolz quote:
Michael Amon, a social services reporter, asked for clarification. "I heard you say 35 people," he said, from Newsday's auditorium in Melville. "Is that number correct?" Mr. Jimenez nodded.
That is hylarious. I would've paid to be in that news conference to laugh out loud at Jimenez.
Yes, I know it's not his fault the Dolans are retarded. Someone has to be the messenger. | |
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 Z80APremium
join:2009-11-23 | Note to Murdoch and others looking to do this same thing Free is a hard price point to beat. | |
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| cacoPremium
join:2005-03-10
Whittier, AK | Re: Note to Murdoch and others looking to do this same thing Free can only be beat if all news outlets decide to go behind a pay wall. All it takes is 1 to be free and kills the entire scheme.
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Politicians and diapers have one thing in common. They should both be changed regularly, and for the same reason. | |
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| |  morboComplete Your Transaction
join:2002-01-22
00000 | Re: Note to Murdoch and others looking to do this same thing Yup. Too many players involved for this to work long term, unlike wireless providers like AT&T and Verizon lowering their unlimited plans to 69.99 at the same time.
Competition in many areas is a complete joke. | |
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| | Z80APremium
join:2009-11-23 | And the more that go pay, the more people go to the free sites driving up their traffic; thus perhaps allowing them higher banner ad revenues. | |
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| | Z80APremium
join:2009-11-23 | Re: Note to Murdoch and others looking to do this same thing Only if the content is better. I pay for WSJ Online but only because I got it with a print edition special. I'll continue paying as I like it but only if it were pretty damn cheap. | |
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| jp10558Premium
join:2005-06-24
Willseyville, NY | Well, yes and no. I mean, look at bottled water for the canonical example. There are certainly information sources I'm willing to pay for. Consumer Reports being one example. The WSJ being another example given in this thread.
What do they have in common? They both appeal to a niche, they have information gathered in one place thats difficult or impossible to find elsewhere and their information is usually "good". There's a lot to be said for that, and it can be worth money.
The problem with generic news outlets is that they're often a commodity. So they don't provide anything you can't get anywhere/everywhere for free or really cheap (think cost of power for your PC or radio or TV). USA Today, the local paper, and the BBC often have the same story basically pasted from an AP or Reuters blurb. Resellers often don't make that much money...
It's often repeated, but the smaller papers might get subscribers for good and comprehensive *local* news. For instance, there was a fight at the local bar last night, and someone got run over... Gossip causes some interest, but no one knows what happened. It never makes any news, though I don't know if that's lack of interest for local papers (who want to cover Obama or Wall street - please, I'll get that from CNN/NYT/googlenews...) or legal issues or what.
Heck, how about news about the new construction down on main street - what's going in next to K-Mart? Who got paid what for it? Are we giving them a tax break? Is the community going to get decent tax revenues from it? How many jobs are expected to be created?
But these just don't get reported that often. And podunk paper can't compete with the New York Times or CNN, and they're not doing that well themselves...
Tangent over. So, to get people to pay, I think they have to have something unique, and something of value. Most of it can't be cookie cutter anymore. There's probably room for one more Consumer Reports competitor for instance.
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Opera 10(Build 1750); Windows XP Pro SP3;Intel C2Q6600; 3GB DDR2 1066; 1M/128k DSL; Antivir Personal; Comodo Internet Security 3.10;Proxomitron 4.5j Sidki 2009-06-06,GPG ID:0x0A1C6EE3 | |
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 JeffreyConnoisseur of leisurely thingsPremium
join:2002-12-24
Long Island
kudos:3
·Verizon FiOS
 ·Vonage
|  The site sucks, no other way to put it.
Then, Cablevision redid the whole site in some late-90s themed mess. The site is barely usable. CV even changed the format of the printed paper a little. Without spending a half hour typing out details, they basically "dumbed" the paper down to make it look more like a tabloid. I went from an every-day Newsday.com reader to a twice a month Newsday.com reader. It's just not cutting it.
FWIW, I am a Cablevision subscriber from TV/Phone/Internet. Right now, I'm happy with their services and aside from buggy STB's, the phone and Internet (Boost) is perfect. With that said, if/when I become a FiOS subscriber, it'll be a cold day in hell before I pay for Newsday.com.
I'm not surprised they only have 35 paying customers. I didn't even think it would be that high. I thought it would be closer to zero.
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"Soulshine. Better than sunshine. Better than moonshine. Damn sure better than rain."
I'm waiting, rather patiently I believe, for springtime.
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| | | Re: The site sucks, no other way to put it. You're so right. When I was a commuter in the 1990s (instead of a telecommuter today) Newsday was my subway paper. Easier to handle than the Times, but more civil and less seedy than the Post or Daily News. Although relatively young, Newsday has a proud heritage. It's a shame to see it trashed like this. | |
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| | The Dolans should stick to cable Off the top of my head I can't think of a successful venture the Dolans have had outside of Cablevision.
Knicks/MSG
Satellite TV
Not counting cablevision and the associated features available only to cable subscribers such as free wireless access is there some venture the Dolans have started that would be considered a success? | |
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| | | Re: The Dolans should stick to cable said by iria64:Off the top of my head I can't think of a successful venture the Dolans have had outside of Cablevision. Knicks/MSG Satellite TV Not counting cablevision and the associated features available only to cable subscribers such as free wireless access is there some venture the Dolans have started that would be considered a success? Don't forget the Cleveland Indians... | |
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| | | | Re: The Dolans should stick to cable said by Delco24:said by iria64:Off the top of my head I can't think of a successful venture the Dolans have had outside of Cablevision. Knicks/MSG Satellite TV Not counting cablevision and the associated features available only to cable subscribers such as free wireless access is there some venture the Dolans have started that would be considered a success? Don't forget the Cleveland Indians... ..and the WIZ stores.
but in their favor they haven't managed to run their other holdings, Radio City Music Hall, the Beacon Theater and the Chicago Theater as well as their Clearview Cinema chain into bankrupcy.... yet. | |
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 GbcueP.E.Premium
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:8 | $5 a Week? Why would anybody pay that much?
Most papers are $1 or less per issue (and that includes the physical paper, ink, delivery, etc.).
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My Blog 2.0 | |
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| | | Re: $5 a Week? That's what home delivery for newsday costs.
.50/day mon - sat and 2.00 for Sunday.
So they think that someone will pay home delivery costs to access a web site. You would be better off subscribing to Sunday only and get free access to the site for 1/2 the price assuming free access is for any subscription plan whether it is 7 days or 1 day a week. | |
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| | GbcueP.E.Premium
join:2001-09-30
Santa Rosa, CA
kudos:8 | Re: $5 a Week? said by iria64:That's what home delivery for newsday costs. .50/day mon - sat and 2.00 for Sunday. So they think that someone will pay home delivery costs to access a web site. You would be better off subscribing to Sunday only and get free access to the site for 1/2 the price assuming free access is for any subscription plan whether it is 7 days or 1 day a week. Remember, this $5/week is on top of you existing internet bill.
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My Blog 2.0 | |
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| BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by Gbcue:Why would anybody pay that much? Most papers are $1 or less per issue (and that includes the physical paper, ink, delivery, etc.). Maybe $19.95 a year they could get enough people to bite. they don't have 99% of the costs that a traditional paper has so why charge the same price? | |
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 maartenaElmoPremium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
kudos:1 | Most papers print AP/Reuters + their politcal views. Pretty much all papers these days just print stories that were submitted/sold to Asociated Press, and from international press agencies like Reuters, combined with articles which represents the political flavor of said paper.
Well, for AP and Reuters articles I can just start a web browser, and my political opinions don't need to be changed by a paper either.
What remains: GOOD local news with GOOD local reporting. That would be the ONLY reason to buy a newspaper subscription. And most newspapers are severely cutting their local journalists staff in favor of printing more AP articles.
When I get up in the morning, just like many others I grab a cup of coffee and read the news. Only I flip open a laptop at the kitchen table instead of a newspaper, which also allows me to PARTICIPATE in the news, such as what I am doing right at this very moment.
Papers are almost dead. If they still have value, they should keep to LOCAL news and LOCAL journalists that cover the area, and stop printing international news and political views we can get by the truckload for free.
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" | |
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| iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Golden, CO
kudos:2 | Re: Most papers print AP/Reuters + their politcal views. Amen to that. Local news is what DOESN'T have 10,000 results per story on Google. | |
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|  LinklistPremium
join:2002-03-03
Longport, NJ
kudos:5 | Too many other sources of news for paywalls to work unless all the sources of online news got together and decided to erect paywalls at the same time. | |
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| | Walled gardens... ...have walls.
Having a walled garden doesn't work in today's economy. People are cutting back on almost all luxuries. Paying for something readers could EASILY get for free elsewhere is not going to work out to well for you. | |
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 shollingPremium
join:2002-02-13
Hemet, CA
kudos:1
1 edit | Value Is Everything I think people will pay a for specialized information or local news but price cannot exceed value. I won't pay what the WSJ charges because I just don't need what they're selling which is in-depth business analysis. However if it were $1-4/month I might just for the quality of the national news coverage - something of value to me.
I might even be willing to pay $3-4/month local for my local paper's online edition if they expanded their local and state coverage and went more in depth on issues, but there is no news rag that I'd pay $5/week for.
Honestly I don't mind paying for something that brings me value. Something like Consumer Reports Online. But value is everything. Obviously from the subscriber numbers Newsday overpriced their product. Maybe now they'll wake up and cut the price.
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"Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else."
--FREDERIC BASTIAT-- | |
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 VanPremium
join:2009-07-08
New Orleans, LA | I pay for a few sites online but I got specialized news that I don't mind paying for.
In terms of general news, I refuse to pay for it when I can get it off numerous Google News links
In terms of local news, all local papers (and surrounding) are free so I don't pay for it. | |
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| | Not looking at the big picture From what I understand the site is free to Cablevision customers, so it's being used as a retention tool.
It's probably not the best marketing strategy though. | |
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|  NYR 56Premium
join:2000-12-05
Smithtown, NY | Re: Not looking at the big picture said by fifty nine:From what I understand the site is free to Cablevision customers, so it's being used as a retention tool. It's probably not the best marketing strategy though. QFT. Almost everyone has missed the entire point of what they did. I'm sure they really couldn't care less if people outside of their customer base sign up. The whole point of having it extremely expensive is to make it look like the current customers of CV will lose a lot if they switch. | |
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| | eventually you will have to pay for your news. Eventualy you will have to pay for your news. Most if not all stories come from the associated press. Any that dont come from the news papers themselves. when all newspapers and the ap start charging for everything places like google news wont have anywhere to get there news from .
So as of right now you still have a choice but eventually you wont . All it takes is all newspapers to go pay only online all at once. | |
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| | | Re: The Mistake They Made Correctamundo... the adult industry is making lots of money because they were behind the paywall from the get go pretty much. | |
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| | BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: The Mistake They Made said by fifty nine:Correctamundo... the adult industry is making lots of money because they were behind the paywall from the get go pretty much. Boy you are sooooo wrong. The money isn't as there as people think and free porn has been the bane of the porn industry since the dawn of the internet. Now it's even worse than ever with all these youtube like porn sites. Trust me the people that make the content and try to run porn pay sites HATE these free tube sites. They have killed sales. Please refrain form talking about topics you have no knowledge about. | |
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| | Cablevision sucks So it's appropriate that their newspaper's web site also sucks.
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It's nice to be important, but it's more important to be nice. | |
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| | Pay? yeah right. Well when most of the good news comes from outside sources these days other then the papers, why the heck would one pay for something when its free in other places that actually did the work? | |
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|  PeteC2Got Mouse?Premium,MVM
join:2002-01-20
Bristol, CT
kudos:6
·Comcast
·AT&T Yahoo
| Re: Pay? yeah right. said by cpsycho:Well when most of the good news comes from outside sources these days other then the papers, why the heck would one pay for something when its free in other places that actually did the work? Excellent point. Maybe not ALL the news from "outside" mainstream sources is reliable...but of course we all know the main stream news sources are not flawless either.
Times have changed. The News (with capital "N"!) is no longer in the hands of the few "official" outlets...that Elvis has done left the building... 
With so many sources for news and information of all types of format and content, it is going to be hard to sell a subscription-based news service, unless it offers awfully specialized information that enough folks deem worthy of paying a premium for...
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Deeds, not words | |
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| | just share My office gets delivered one paper and everyone reads it. I share a subscription to the WSJ. | |
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| maartenaElmoPremium
join:2002-05-10
Orange, CA
kudos:1 | Re: just share said by hoyleysox:My office gets delivered one paper and everyone reads it. I share a subscription to the WSJ. My office has people bringing in their morning papers.... my department has 1 that brings in the L.A. times every morning and shares it with a few people during lunch breaks. I get to read it with my morning coffee if I feel like it but I am usually way too busy.
And there are papers going around other departments as well. You can't share an online subscription over lunch that well, and if you are online anyways there are so many places you can read that news for free indeed.
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"I reject your reality and substitute my own!" | |
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 sirsloopPremium
join:2004-02-18
New York, NY | trash! the news is for the most part useless negative vibe trash anyways... who the hell needs it? Im certian not paying for it! Let advertisements pay for it.
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»www.tallmanphoto.com | |
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The Mistake They Made
They cannot see the forest for the trees.
Many companies trying to monetize the internet cannot see the forest for the trees. If I had to pay a toll to enter every website, I would download my way to the poor house. The pay per use business model does not take into consideration that delivering a message costs almost nothing. Paying $5.00 for accessing one website would not send me to the poor house but if I had to pay $5.00 to access each website I would quickly spend several hundred dollars a month for website access. Companies like Cablevision must rethink their business plans if they want to succeed.