Do Paywalls work?

[scroobal]

http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Paywall

Do paywalls work or do they wean people from a routine to read news on a daily basis. I get the impression that people are beginning to realise that they do not need to read the news on a daily basis. They catch it when something pops up or if a need arises.

Did SPH score own goal ? My sense is that they did. Theirs was more hard paywall with silly teasers.

 

[GOD IS MY DOG]

http://wikipedia.org/wiki/Paywall

Do paywalls work or do they wean people from a routine to read news on a daily basis. I get the impression that people are beginning to realise that they do not need to read the news on a daily basis. They catch it when something pops up or if a need arises.

Did SPH score own goal ? My sense is that they did. Theirs was more hard paywall with silly teasers.

paywall...................???........................m&d lan ah ..............???

 

[Leongsam]

It depends upon whether there are free alternatives.

If there are then subscription rates will be very low. If the content is exclusive, more people will be willing to sign up.

 

[mojito]

Paywalls certainly works for the Economist because it made me subscribe to their digital edition. I highly value its excellent writing, refreshing perspectives and reasoned opinions about current events.

The Straits Times is similar and paywalls should work no differently.

 

[halsey02]

Paywalls certainly works for the Economist because it made me subscribe to their digital edition. I highly value its excellent writing, refreshing perspectives and reasoned opinions about current events.

The Straits Times is similar and paywalls should work no differently.

I won't pay good money for anything that is PAP-laced....buying Straits Times, print edition is bad enough.

 

[scroobal]

Agree on high IP content but wonder if news which is perishable and generally available can work in a paywall environment.

 

[kingrant]

If alternate sites exist for the same news e.g. MH17, who wants to pay SPH to read second hand news if you can read first hand from AP or Reuters. Op-ed pieces in the Economist for example are worth paying for, since no same content can be found elsewhere. Of course there are exceptions - e.g. Sumiko Tan's crappy Sunday cums - even where there are no alternate places for them, they are silly to waste time on.