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I know this may not seem like Pats-related news, but considering how much Pats fans depend on information about the Pats from Mike Reiss and the rest of the Boston Globe, I thought this would be worth posting here.
News Corp. plans fees for newspaper Web sites by the AP in the Boston Herald
Globe says readers to pay for Web site
Boston Sports Media Watch has an interesting editorial on the situation, mostly with a lot of questions about what may transpire.
Boston Sports Media Watch Boston Globe/Boston.com To Charge Online Readers
News Corp. plans fees for newspaper Web sites by the AP in the Boston Herald
The challenge is holding on to ad dollars while charging those readers who are willing to pay. One idea is setting up a kind of toll that allows readers to visit the site for free but begins charging after a certain number of page views.
Murdoch gave few details Wednesday on what News Corp.’s approach will be.
"The Wall Street Journal’s WSJ.com is the world’s most successful paid news site," he said, "We will be using our profitable experience there and the resulting unique skills throughout News Corporation to increase our revenues from all our content."
Asked how News Corp. will keep readers from simply jumping to free sources of news, he said, "I believe that if we are successful, we will be followed by other media."
Globe says readers to pay for Web site
Globe spokesman Bob Powers said charging for Boston.com appears inevitable.
“It’s going to happen one way or another,” Powers said. “We are looking at several different options, and the goal would be to generate revenue.”
Boston Sports Media Watch has an interesting editorial on the situation, mostly with a lot of questions about what may transpire.
Boston Sports Media Watch Boston Globe/Boston.com To Charge Online Readers
Non-Newspaper related sites like WEEI.com, NESN.com and Comcast SportsNet could see their online content gain more traffic, assuming they remain free of charge to access. Team sites, like RedSox.com, Patriots.com and Celtics.com, which are already producing their own coverage and content, would also seemingly benefit should the local newspapers decide to start charging for content. Free, independent sites like CelticsBlog.com, PatriotsDaily.com and messageboards like the Sons Of Sam Horn and PatsFans.com would also likely benefit from increased traffic as fans go to get their fix of information and sports talk.
Is what The Boston Globe is producing, specifically on the sports side, since that’s what we’re dealing with here, so exclusive and valuable that readers are going to pay, in this economy, to be able to read it, when they can get most of the same information for free from the above sources? I might consider paying something just for Reiss’s Pieces updates, but not a whole lot.
Much will depend on the price. If it were say, $19.99 for a year, people might go for that. Make that $19.99 a month, or a week, I don’t think so. Will they continue to fill the space with ads in addition to the subscription charge? Will they lower the cost of the print edition?