http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/greenslade/2010/feb/01/charging-for-content-rupert-murdoch
A subscription to Times Online could be just another item on Sky TV bills If readers shell out for newspaper website paywalls as part of their cable TV package, will they actually notice? As Peter Preston points out in the Observer, it could be a paywall no one will notice, because it comes with TV subscriptions. The owners of Newsday also own Optimum Cable, which supplies cable TV to 75% of Long Island homes – Newsday's backyard. Preston says this is the "hidden factor that turns the argument on its head". Thus Newsday's paywall-guarded unique users figure for December was 1.5 million, which included the cable subscribers and not just the 35 souls who separately signed up. Preston makes the link between this and the recent appointment of Gutej Sandhu as director of Times Digital. And where does Sandhu, tasked with implementing the paywall, hail from? He was chief information officer and general manager/senior vice president, digital, for Star TV in India and Hong Kong. Over to Preston: Now watch closely as 10 million Sky subscribers get an offer they can't reasonably refuse. How about beyond-the-wall access to four big British papers (plus an array of tempting other goodies) for as little as 50p extra a month? £6m a month for that is £72m – in a trice the losses on Wapping's more upmarket offerings are turned to profit – with plenty more tugs on the Sky pay lever to come. ------------------------------------ -- INFORMATION OVERLOAD? Get all ZESTMedia mails sent out in a span of 24 hours in a single mail. Subscribe to the daily digest version by sending a blank mail to [email protected], OR, if you have a Yahoo! Id, change your settings at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ PARTICIPATE Share media news, discuss journalism issues and network with media professionals across South Asia on this mailing list. Just write to [email protected] TELL FRIENDS TO SIGN UP If you got this mail as a forward, subscribe to ZESTMedia by sending a blank mail to [email protected] OR, if you have a Yahoo! ID, by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join/ Also have a look at our sister list, ZESTCaste: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTCaste/Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ZESTMedia/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: [email protected] [email protected] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [email protected] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
