So the Times must have gotten their feathers ruffled by the news that their spanking new premium scheme is rather “hackable”. That’s only if you call refreshing a page before the irritable subscription request pops up “a hack”. The thing is that beyond what are surely teething problems for the Times (and more particularly for whoever came up with the javascript paywall (see that biwwa? I said paywall) lies a future of secured “income”. Once the flaws are solved then the paywall will definitely be in place for the news website (not portal – idem biwwa?) and readers will have to decide whether paying the €3.99 a week is worth every penny.
That, I believe, is the real question. For all you need to do – as J’accuse reader John Lane has already done – is compare the cost of subscribing to the Times of Malta online (and that is only online – not including print) to that of other papers/journals. I have taken a cursory look and looked around some major titles. The most striking fact is that the UK Times – loaded as it is with goodies and extras – turns out to be cheaper than the Maltese Times. Here is a table of sorts for the sake of comparison:
27€
Le Figaro
€27 per month (includes delivery of printed version and free watch)24€
Le Monde
Formule Integrale – 24,90€ per month19.33€
International Herald Tribune & New York Times
Unlimited access to the IHT smartphone apps, IHT app for iPad and NYTimes.com. €19.33 per month (25$)19€
The Economist (digital + print)
€19 per month15.96€
Times of Malta
Digital ONLY. 3.99€ /week once the introductory €2.99 expires14.15€
The Times (UK) Classic Pack (top range) – €14.15 (£12) per month
It’s not just that though is it? For only 3€ more you could have access to the Economist online and receive it at home. Or you could opt for the New York Times/Herald Tribune alternative. The UK Times still remains the strongest contender for value for money – and don’t forget you could get all the local news for free from the Independent, MaltaToday and the various news websites that spring up such as iNewsMalta.
So yes Times people, once you stop grinding your teeth at these offensive bloggers who found a flaw in your paywall system you might have to contend with an even bigger flaw in your business model. If my O’level economics helps me in any way this has something to do with “opportunity cost” – basically your potential readers might take this opportunity to waive the cost for your subscription and go for something – how shall I say it? More worth the euros and cents?
2 replies on “The cost of a paper”
[…] The cost of a paper […]
I received this clarification from the Times:
I refer to your blog post: http://www.akkuza.com/2013/05/15/the-cost-of-a-paper/
I just wish to clarify a couple of details for you to have the correct picture on our new subscription package.
You mention the price of 3.99 as including only online content. This isn’t completely correct. The package actually also includes access to our digital archive, which means that people can search based on keywords or dates through all our editions, back to the 1930s, and it also provides access to a pdf version of the print newspaper which, should one wish, one could also print. This means that users also get to see exactly the same content as someone who would have purchased a print edition, including classifieds and adverts.
The other issue which could be of interest to you to know is that the introductory price of 2.99 per week will be kept for subscription packages over 3 months, once these are rolled out. Naturally, as you can appreciate, the launch of such a product is not a one-time event but rather a work-in-progress so there are plans for the future which will be rolled out in due course.
Thanks for your attention.
Kind regards,
Marija
Marija Schranz
PA to the Group Managing Director