The Newsonomics of Mr. Murdoch’s Daily

So if the cost run-rate is about $15 to $18 million a year, and subscription revenues net at $7 million, News Corp. would need $8 to $11 million a year in ad revenues to break even. Certainly possible, if that 200,000 number is hit and sustained, but that could be a tough proposition as tablet ...

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Paywalls, Patch, Public Media & Pointcast Memories: 11 Conventional News Wisdoms We’ll Test in 2011

Conventional Wisdom #1) Readers won't pay for non-business content. Yes, we know that readers will pay for the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times, and that Consumer Reports, which helps us save money, counts more digital subs than anyone else. While some smaller dailies have begun to ...

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9 Questions: Zell’s Clown Car, The New “100,” Tablets & Print Circ & Daughter of Alesia

Will the cats of newspaper industry be successfully herded? After pouring millions into his Alesia project, Rupert Murdoch gave the retreat order to his would-be Roman warriors, killing the tablet-oriented paid news portal initiative. Though his News Corp is the biggest news company in the ...

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Boston.com’s New Strategies: Retention and Switch

The idea, then, in Boston, is to rebuild, over time, that strong two-legged business. In short, this is two-headed strategy: retention and switch.

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Bill Keller on the Liberal New York Times….and More

It's a tough dance, and one that conservatives love to watch. I'm struck by how different the dance is in the UK, another English-speaking country with a fairly decent history of democracy and free press. There, the Guardian -- which is now getting a global profile for its work, courtesy of its ...

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Reuters Insider Notches Up the News Video Battle

The Reuters Insider product is impressive, a model of what can be done by companies recognizing changing digital habits, and the technologies that support them. What’s most impressive about the product is its aggregation, the sheer amount of content that it brings together in an intutive interface.

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The Newsonomics of News in a Diversified World

News Corp.'s Avatar has taken in $2.75 billion. Compare that financial flexibility with the Times, and it’s night and day. The Times Co.’s total 2009 revenues: $2.4 billion, less than Avatar itself has produced.

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The Quote

Bewkes is on to something all savvy media execs should get. The customer wants the technology -- and the platform of delivery -- to be transparent. We want what we want, and we don't want to be nickel-and-dimed along the way. Single pricing, what I've called ''all-access pricing" across, ...

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Who Would Buy Newsweek?

In an age of hot and loud debate, amplified by cable TV and the web, Newsweek's cool demeanor may simply be out of time and out of place. If it gets sold, it's hard to believe that much other than the brand will long survive, as the economics under it are badly wounded. Look for it, ...

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Competition for the Business News Reader Intensifies

The push in business news shows several key trends in the marketplace: * Niching. Beefing up “news” in general is out; targeting select readers is where investment is going. * The action is greatest among the Digital Dozen, the term I’ve originated to describe top globally-oriented ...

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