While this is something that is presumably designed to get the stock analysts feeling hot and sweaty about the potential for News to arrest its declining newspaper revenues, particularly from its online properties, I wonder if anyone has done any serious analysis of the kind of people who read the newspapers that Mr Murdoch and his companies publish...
While I admire his capitalist drive enormously, and would love to have a bank account like his, I am not quite so bullish about his prospects to generate much in the way of revenues from his newspapers online.
Why?
Because a large number of his "news" properties are aimed at the lowest common denominator of the population. Not to denigrate the working classes, by any means, but the people who read The News Of The World, or The Sun, or any number of his properties are surely the same slice of the population that is being put out of work by the GFC. Bottom line - they don't have any money to spare. So why would they spend their money on a newspaper on line when they can get the information on the kind of news that they are seeking free elsewhere.
The one thing that charging people does, in my experience, when they are used to getting that good or service for nothing, is motivate them to find the price that they are used to - elsewhere.
To me, beyond any of the other reasons that I could argue, this one is the big one - The News audience (not counting those who read the quality papers, rather than the rags) is made up of a substantial amount of people who just don't have the scratch to pay.
But I must admit that if I were one of his competitors I would be saying, "Go, Rupert, go. Bring it on". Because one thing is for sure - as soon as News introduces a "pay per view" model, it will push a lot of traffic to the other guys....
Here are some pictures from one of the recent US demonstrations about Health Care, who I imagine are the typical reader of News publications... They have a great way with the English language... :)
