Media websites increasingly charging for content
March 9, 2012, 12:31 pm EDT
New York—R.R. Donnelley & Sons Co.'s Press+ released statistics highlighting growth in the efforts of media websites to begin charging for content.
“There are now 285 Press+ Affiliates deploying all kinds of digital subscription models. That's a revolutionary change in the last six months, and it's where the action is,” said Steven Brill, co-CEO of Press+, in a statement.
Press+ has added 265 of those sites within the past 12 months. Press+ said it has more than 200 companies with pending installations of the paywall platform.
Gordon Crovitz, Press+ co-CEO said, on average, users of the Press+ system allow readers 14 free page views per month before they begin charging. The average monthly price for digital-only users is $6.50 per month. For print subscribers, the average monthly price for digital access is $2.
“We counsel publishers to start with high meters, ensure that they retain online advertising and online readership then, over time, lower the meters to grow subscriptions more quickly,” Crovitz said in a statement.
Crovitz and Brill co-founded Journalism Online and its Press+ system in 2009 along with Leo Hindery. The group sold Journalism Online to Donnelley last year.