Comments on: Paid news on Mobile. Why it could fly.

By: 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive « Social Media Editor

12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive « Social Media Editor — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 13:25:50 +0000

[...] more people are getting smartphones and using them to stay connected to the news, there is also some potential for money to be made. Apparently, news organizations are catching on, becoming the fastest growing [...]

By: 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive

12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:42:02 +0000

By: Aline

Aline — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:40:16 +0000

An interesting analysis of the Wall Street Journal’s strategy over mobile : http://paidcontent.org/article/419-wsjs-mcleod-charging-for-mobile-was-no-brainer/

WSJ everywhere + pricing plan

By: Fett på nett og favoritter på Twitter #1 « Nett er fett

Fett på nett og favoritter på Twitter #1 « Nett er fett — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 21:15:31 +0000

[...] bør ta en titt på iPhone OS 3.0: Paid news on Mobile. Why it could fly. [...]

By: OBonsart

OBonsart — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:37:38 +0000

Very clever analysis, Frédéric, but I’m not so sure you’ll get the numbers. I can’t believe so many people will pay 4 bucks for a new release every six months.
Please take care with O’Reilly Radar’s figures : they only show how many apps are in Itunes Store, and they don’t get any idea of the downloaded apps market share.
But, this said, the fact is you’re righ to point out the real business opportunity in the iphone and itunes ecosystem.

By: Networkers Blog » Blog Archive » 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive

Mon, 24 Aug 2009 21:44:18 +0000

By: Stephen Quinn

Stephen Quinn — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:47:38 +0000

[...] Filloux, a Paris-based editor with the Norwegian media house Schibsted, writes a considered piece on how it might be possible to make money from delivering content on a mobile phone. Filloux points [...]

By: Shopping Mall » Blog Archive » 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive

Sat, 22 Aug 2009 00:50:13 +0000

By: Richard Howell

Richard Howell — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 15:44:06 +0000

Time to eat some humble pie.

A week ago I didn’t think mobile apps could provide an answer. Now I do. But only if publishers stop thinking of handsets as computers and instead present content, and in particular advertising, in a different way.

However publishers will have to work together if they are to have any chance of success and, in the UK at least, the BBC is a significant problem. A fuller explanation is to be found here: http://www.reviewsreviewed.co.uk/index.php/mobileblog/How-apps-can-make-news-on-your-mobile-profitable.html

Even so, I now agree that mobile offers a very real opportunity, even if it is for different reasons.

By: Vers un web sans site web

Vers un web sans site web — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 08:48:35 +0000

[...] que la monétisation s’effectuera au moment de la lecture sur le modèle iTune. Je vois l’intérêt pour une œuvre originale, par exemple la nouvelle de Gwen, mais quel [...]

By: 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive « New Media in Greece

12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive « New Media in Greece — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 05:22:25 +0000

By: Mentors Blog » 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive

Mentors Blog » 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 12:21:02 +0000

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Affiliates Blog » 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 09:01:06 +0000

By: 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive | NASZAKLASA

12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive | NASZAKLASA — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 05:21:34 +0000

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SociaListed » 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 01:51:56 +0000

By: 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive - Programming Blog

12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive - Programming Blog — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 00:21:03 +0000

By: Mashable « Blog-Feast.com Blog Collection

Mashable « Blog-Feast.com Blog Collection — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 19:09:35 +0000

By: 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive

12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 17:54:19 +0000

By: Richard Howell

Richard Howell — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:50:05 +0000

I visit many different news sites. But the frequency with which I visit them and the time I spend on them drastically differs. And, for obvious reasons, were I to have to pay, I would pay more for some than for others.
Consequently having a single subscription, with my payment being divided up between sites in proportion to pages viewed and time spent, makes sense.
However, I suspect I spend more of my online time on news sites than many people. The price I would therefore be prepared to pay is likely to be greater than the majority would contemplate.
Finding a price acceptable to a sufficient number of users to produce sufficient revenues to successfully finance many news sites will I fear prove impossible.
Readers consume news differently on screen than in print. This in part helps explain the radically greater length of time spent reading newspapers than their online equivalents.
Indeed, looking at an analysis that Ryan Chittum of the Columbia Journalism Review has undertaken of data from the New York Times, it is possible to conclude that advertisers are already spending too much money to reach readers online relative to print. I have attempted to explain this in greater detail here: http://www.reviewsreviewed.co.uk/index.php/mobileblog/Those-who-want-news-on-their-mobile-may-have-to-pay.html
Almost everybody but Rupert Murdoch now accepts that attempting to impose traditional means of revenue generation on online news sites is unlikely to succeed. That new income sources need desperately to be found is not in dispute. But sadly I tend to agree with some of your other commentators. Mobile phone apps are unlikely to be the answer.

By: The Tech Town » 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive

The Tech Town » 12 Things Newspapers Should Do to Survive — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 16:31:31 +0000

By: Into the money-making tent « Paperhouse

Into the money-making tent « Paperhouse — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 13:02:23 +0000

[...] news. The other side is convenience – and on the Monday Note blog, Frédéric Filloux gives a quick breakdown of why news on your phone could be a service worth paying for. Mobile is the perfect vehicle for [...]

By: Monday Note: Why paid news on mobile could work | DAILYMAIL

Monday Note: Why paid news on mobile could work | DAILYMAIL — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 04:59:27 +0000

[...] Full post at this link… [...]

By: Into the money-making tent « Paperhouse

Into the money-making tent « Paperhouse — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 14:55:43 +0000

[...] news. The other side is convenience – and on the Monday Note blog, Frédéric Filloux gives a quick breakdown of why news on your moblie could be a service worth paying for. Mobile is the perfect vehicle for [...]

By: Monday Note: Why paid news on mobile could work | Journalism.co.uk Editors' Blog

Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:15:06 +0000

[...] Full post at this link… [...]

By: Dave Levy

Dave Levy — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:30:24 +0000

I mean, other than asking the media business folk to think outside the box to get to this, I think it’s brilliant. Take advantage of the utility of news on the go.

I’m currently nowhere near my home or a computer - I got the link to this post through Twitter (naturally). Already this morning, I’ve caught articles in NYT, WaPo and the Globe from the same phone I’m typing this comment. I’d have to go track down three papers in a city three states away from my own - I’d probably pay for a a small charge for a mobile sub to all three.

By: Relevant articles found for today | Sustainable Online Media

Relevant articles found for today | Sustainable Online Media — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 08:41:33 +0000

[...] Paid news on Mobile. Why it could fly. [...]

By: David Sharp

David Sharp — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 06:28:51 +0000

Given that the news provided via most IPhone apps to date is given away free, and given that this kind of device is likely to remain much less widespread than Internet-connected computers, I find it frankly unbelievable that media companies will be able to make significant revenue streams out of smartphones.

There will be exactly the same problem that companies are now having to grapple with on the net: how do you force people to pay for something that you’ve voluntarily provided them with for free?

It also seems extremely unlikely that users will agree to continually update the apps that provide them with news. To count on such a process is to condemn developers to continually add new bells and whistles, and to count on users to download them.

Also, as several people have observed, users will not want to download a different app for each company: Cf the confusing list of news offerings already out there for the IPhone.

As for counting on advertising to provide meaningful income, according to today’s New York Times, quoting a subsidiary of the Interpublic Group, this year advertisers are expected to spend no more than $229 million in all “on mobile media, including mobile Web sites and applications.”
(http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/business/media/10apps.html)

On the basis of the figures you quote, showing that news media account for only 2.6% of all apps downloaded for the IPhone, and supposing that news media could capture a proportionate share of that (which is itself unlikely, given that music and online games are much more attractive to advertisers than news), the total revenue pot would come to less than six million dollars for the entire industry!

Apps for smartphones are an interesting niche product, certainly - but it would be an extremely foolish company which counted on them to provide the bulk of its revenue.

Unless, of course, news media firms all band together to insist that all users, and notably the many free-riding aggregators to be found on the web and probably also on smartphone apps, actually pay for what we journalists produce.

Until that happens, the more media firms agree to give away stuff for free, the more difficult it will be to back-pedal later.

By: Philippe Garnier

Philippe Garnier — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 20:06:34 +0000

Dear Frédéric, I’m not sure The Independent iPhone app actually uses the notification system available on the iPhone 3.0 OS. Instead, I think it updates all its feeds once it is launched, thus having a very common behavior.

By: Espen Sundve

Espen Sundve — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:49:12 +0000

A really good analysis and blogpost. As Aline Rutily, I’m curious about whether you believe “one app serves all” or “one app per newspaper” is what we will see?

I agree with you that paid news on mobile could fly. I’m especially interested in how the news companies will use the iPhone OS 3.0 features “Push Notification” and “In App Purchase” in the delivery of special news such as sports results and financial news. One example could be if the application pushes a notification when your favourite soccer team scores and tells you that you can watch the goal directly on your iPhone, you only need to pay say $0.5 via In App Purchase. Do you have any great examples from France when it comes to using iPhone OS 3.0 to its fullest?

The possibilites with iPhone OS 3.0 are huge, and I expect that we will see many great applications in the near future. $20 a year per user should not be a big problem if only the news companies adapt and understand the possibilites.

By: Aline Rutily

Aline Rutily — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 14:33:09 +0000

Dear Frederic, thanks for this great analysis from a qualitative and quantitative point of view.

Many mainstream web users - not “infoxicated” - find information seeking keywords through search engines, google or information agregators. It also seems that given the significant number of online information websites, web users find it convienient to use agregators.

So i’m questioning whether people will prefer to have many paid apps from different newspapers (best case scenario with plenty of money ahead, the “ringtone” effect), or just one/two favorite apps from their favorite brands, mobile AFP style news or if they’d prefer some kind of “google news” mobile app.