Thursday, July 01, 2010
Pence says no decision yet on other paywall sites
With paywalls going up today at papers in Tallahassee, Fla.; Greenville, S.C., and St. George, Utah, corporate spokeswoman Robin Pence told Poynter Online that Gannett has not yet decided on the approach for its other markets, but that the company will use what it learns from the test sites "to help us develop our long-term strategy for paid content."
18 comments:
Jim says: "Proceed with caution; this is a free-for-all comment zone. I try to correct or clarify incorrect information. But I can't catch everything. Please keep your posts focused on Gannett and media-related subjects. Note that I occasionally review comments in advance, to reject inappropriate ones. And I ignore hostile posters, and recommend you do, too."
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Gannett to readers: Go away. We have already cut back circulation except to the close-in areas. We also have stopped delivery in some areas where the economics don't warrant us serving you. We have also cutback on coverage of things you are interested in. We're not particularly interested in your comments on stories. Now we are building paywalls aimed at keeping you away. So go away. We want to be alone.
ReplyDeleteWow, you mean they're going to develop a long-term strategy for paid content? That's wonderful! Perhaps they can use what they learn from that exercise to begin to develop a long-term strategy for the rest of the business. Better late than never.
ReplyDeleteWonder if/when Dubow will ever fully explain what went right and wrong with that transformation he talked about for a few years. Transformation---shit. Yep, this company sure went through a major transformation. Just look at the results.
ReplyDeleteGood point, 10:42. Until now, I'd completely forgotten about that consulting-speak buzzword. I haven't seen it used in any of his statements for at least a year.
ReplyDeleteOK. I don't know if anyone has pointed this out yet, but this whole paywall thing is a joke. Go to any article on the Tallahassee site (tallahassee.com) and view the source code. The entire article is there under description. Way to protect Gannett!
ReplyDelete3:02--- Okay... it's in the source code... Great... average people won't be viewing the source code. Not saying it's ideal, but hey WSJ let's me go on Google and view any page I want -- something Gannett has evaded with it's paywall, and far easier to do.
ReplyDeleteMoving on -- it's interesting they haven't done this in Arizona, Detroit, Indy, and other big markets... I would imagine the JOA makes doing this in Detroit a bit trickier, but it's really what Hunke and others should have done instead of the e-edition garbage. But back to the point, the fact there not doing this in big markets is very telling...
Jim,
ReplyDeleteWhen Saridakis was leaving Gannett, he met with a group of us and was very candid about what he thought about Gannett's paywall strategy and what he thought Gannett should do.
With regard to the strategy, he said "There is no strategy to speak of. There are corporate people who will get paid a bonus and appease the board every three months by showing them that they have a plan".
He also said that the way in which Gannett thinks about putting up a paywall is "completely flawed".
So far, everything he told us over the past few months has come true. He believed the way in which Gannett makes decisions is purely political and based on one person's opinions (Gracia Martore).
It is a shame he is not here anymore as I believe we have gone back in time since his departure. His clear understanding of where we should go and his ability to articulate a strategy and vision is sorely lacking in this executive management team.
One other point, Saridakis predicted that the Gannett/Yahoo link up would be a disaster and that Gannett would be smart not to ink a deal with them. Apparently, he was right and Gannett has taken his advice and is now not going down the path with Yahoo anymore.
5:13p. So true. We see the void here at Pointroll. Although he didn't spend much time with us the last few months, you can tell his passion and vision is no longer here. I would often email Saridakis for advce and he would always have a unique perspective.
ReplyDeleteBtw Mr Dubow and Mrs Martore were visiting here at Pointroll and we were discouraged by their lack of knowledge of our business. It was a poor showing. We were all surprised that this was their first time here given all that Pointroll has done for Gannett.
This is a LONG time in coming. It is a very bold move and I would expect to see some people turn back to the print product, others oc course will pay for the online content. Of course some people will go away, but they will need to come back if they want local news. Eventually the tv stations will follow suit. Radio already uses print to repeat the news.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone with real informstion report on initial feedback? How muc was the websitre traffic impacted. I would love to see the circ numbers compared to other papers in 4-5 months.
Great move!
8:36 pm: I've got early traffic figures from one of the three sites after its paywall went up. But it's just one day's worth. I'd rather hear first from others with access to data from any of the three sites.
ReplyDeleteThe BBC says that the London Times is predicted to lose 60 percent of its Internet visitors after it imposed paywalls July 1. It is good that Corporate is doing this experiment because the full impact of paywalls is not really known for general interst newspapers. Business can write off the Financial Times or the WSJ subscriptions on expense accounts, but what will ordinary Jack or Jane do once the paywalls are put up. I would also like to know the ecnomic impact, but I doubt we will ever see anything on that side of the impact.
ReplyDeleteI have looked at these sites, and see they give you the lede, but say you must pay to see the rest of the story. No problem when it is staff copy. My question is they are including wire stories in this. Shouldn't AP or whatever wire service get a cut of this extra revenue if they are going to do this?
ReplyDeleteI've now been given two very different figures on the impact of the paywalls at the three newspaper websites as of today, the third day since they were erected.
ReplyDeleteThe figures are from sources who have been accurate in the past.
One source says traffic is expected to be down 40%; they did not say whether that is pageviews, unique visitors or some combination. I believe the percentage is for all three sites.
Another source says traffic at one of the sites in particular is trending down more than 60%.
8:36 again. I imagine trsffic will be significantly down, but in time traffic will start to grow again. Most likely never to the numbers they had but now they will generate revenue. I hopw all newspapers go to this model
ReplyDeleteJim: since you seem to have some idea of the figures, how many readers have paid the $10 a month to keep reading online?
ReplyDelete5:13 you and your "pray at the pudgy feet of Saridakis" are in for a big surprise very soon. By the way, what did the little fella ever do besides get Gannett to buy his company. There is not one digital initiative you could put his name on. He did give great speeches however. Sorry...your little emperor had no clothes.
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