Monday, May 18, 2009

Newport Daily News Online!

They've taken the entire print edition & copied each page. You can view it that way (and go blind) or see it in an easier to read format. You can also vew ads, announcements, etc. Pics are also there. It's also searchable with a LOT of unneeded directions. But they're new at this.

I liked it.

But then there's the cost. I don't get it. Online is $5/day or $10/wk. Home delivery is close to that price (well, a LOT cheaper by the day). Huh? They actually blame their current, extremely abbreviated online edition for dropping subscriber numbers. Au contraire, mon ami. Perhaps it had something to do with- like why people actually read papers- CONTENT. Combine the delivered paper with online for $10/month.

It will be interesting to see how they fare here. Over the years their online presence has changed considerably, but always behind the times. Now they are trying to jump ahead, but at considerable cost to the consumer without a whole lot of benefits that I can see. But I'm frequently wrong anyway. So it's free for a week.

The daily cost at the newsstand: 50 cents on weekdays and 75 cents for the Weekend edition. Home delivery: $14 per month, $40 for three months, $75 for six months or $145 for a year. The next level — the combined home delivery-online option — will cost $25 for a month, $70 for three months, $130 for six months or $245 for a year subscription, or about 80 cents a day. For those who prefer the online-only option, the cost will be $5 for a day, $10 for a week, $35 for a month, $100 for three months, $180 for six months and $345 for a year. puts it well here.

Sheila Lennon at Projo "gets it" and has this suggestion: "There has always been yet another alternative -- revamp outdated advertising systems to permit instant (impulse) purchases of products featured in Web ads, perhaps at a discount. The hosting news org gets a percentage of each sale: Passive revenue, and all the demographic data a site could wish to target, would accrue."

Sorry, it's difficult to feel sorry for newspaper owners. For years they were extremely profitable- that's why the locals live on Indian Ave. Then they adopted Wall St. models and were gobbled up. High profits with little actual reporting. Customers left and went elsewhere. A reporter puts it well in today's Projo.

Well, at least they're trying. I wish them well. I want them to succeed.

3 comments:

Bruce said...

Environmentally unsound, the online only version should cost no more than the home delivery version, forget all the inclusions, the idea being to get away from the wasteful habit of filling our PAYT recycle barrels up with newsprint and encourage online readership. Consumes less energy overall.

Unknown said...

I should think online would cost substantially less.
I'm trying to figure out their business model here other than low overhead for posting- who is their customer? Evidently they think it the same as for their hard copy. I think not.
Then there is the negative aversion factor- why should I pay for something that used to be or that others offer for zip? Why would I pay more or even the same when I could get the hard copy?
But what do we know?
What will my cat curl up on?

Anonymous said...

I can't believe that the NDN expects people to pay extra for the on line version of the paper. I can understand if you didn't have a subscription to the paper- making you pay to view online BUT if you have a subscription to the paper version you SHOULD NOT HAVE TO PAY EXTRA FOR THE ONLINE VIEWING. I may just drop it and read the journal on line for free.