I've said that multiple incremental revenue streams are the way to build business for news (and other media), and in today's Poynter Online - NewsPay Bill Mitchell says that one newspaper has learned that "The most promising path to the future of newspaper business models begins with the 's' at the end of the word 'model.'"
The paper he's writing about, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, has set up a revenue stream by charging subscription rates for content "not previously found on the paper's website" and has found that it can make a profit by doing so. While the single stream isn't large, it is profitable. Multiple such streams would mean more profit -- and more ability to fund operations. (What streams, you ask: how about, in addition to ads an subscriptions, things like apps, events (something the P-G is doing), services (use those idle printers!), e-commerce, affiliate or distribution partnerships, digital-to-print and so on. Previously, newspapers have been able to sell for higher end versions of sports stats, or inside information on teams.
Curious that the company president says the paper will decide whether to continue the experiment. If it's profitable (and assuming it's not a huge distraction and fits w/ the larger strategy of the company) why not?
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