On paywalls and iPads..

January 29, 2010 Zak Gollop Leave a Comment

(image credit skpy)

It seems a week can’t go by at the moment without the debate around newspaper paywalls generating more column inches. ReadWriteWeb picked up on an interesting story concerning Newsday and the apparent lack of success seen by its recent subscription revenue model. Having spent $4 million on redesigning the site anticipating the introduction of a paywall but the subsequent return of only 35 subscribers in a three-month period doesn’t look good. However, by digging a little deeper the figures aren’t quite so clear-cut, as subscribers to the local cable company also enjoy free access to the Newsday site, so it is probably unfair to draw too many conclusions on this example alone. The Guardian’s Alan Rusbridger also spoke out on paywalls this week, paidContent gives an excellent write-up on the speech here.

As we mentioned previously the much vaunted Apple iPad was announced this week and the potential for media does look attractive. The sharp, display, ability to embed videos into articles and the New York Times app already being demoed it looks like an exciting mix of the more traditional paper form and the digital future, although whether the device takes off and publishers create the dynamic content necessary remains to be seen.

Filed under: publishers,Web trends

Tags: Apple, content, iPad, New York Times, paywall, publishers, The Guardian