Friday, October 13, 2017

Online edition of The Straits Times

The business strategy of The Straits Times seemed rather confused. Perhaps this comment also applies to the other newspapers in the SPH group.

The print edition cost $29.90 per month. The online edition also cost $29.90 per month. However, readers can access most of the articles online for free. However, they receives intrusive advertisements, which destroy the reading experience.

It is quite a hassle to enrol for the online edition, as the process is quite confusing.

If I were in charge, I would change the strategy as follows:

a) Charge the online edition at 50% of the print edition.
b) Offer the online edition free for subscribers of the print edition.

I believe that most people are willing to pay for the online edition, if it is priced at half of the print edition. However, this will reduce the subscription to the print edition, but it is bound to happen anyway.





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