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Most online news services give their readers access to their daily news stories for free, the main exception to that rule being Wall Street Journal Online, which charges users a annual fee to access all its content. This, however, may change shortly as the soon to be owner, Rupert Murdoch, appears to be toying with the idea of opening up the site's content to anyone wishing to see it.This brings up an interesting discussion, and one that could have major consequences. Unlike most sites that have tried (and failed) to charge annual subscription fees, Dow Jones & Co. (NYSE: DJ)'s Wall Street Journal Online has proved able to successfully do just that. The site pulls in $79 for an annual subscription from its estimated 1 million users. That's a nice little chunk of change that Mr. Murdoch is considering throwing away.
But would he really be throwing away anything? That is where the debate comes into play. How many internet users would start to use Wall Street Journal Online for their primary news service if they were allowed unlimited free access? My opinion is that the number would be large, much larger than its current numbers, and as we all know... visitors equal revenues. In this case, visitors would equal huge advertising revenues.
All said and done, it is estimated that Wall Street Journal Online is currently pulling in around $65 million from its subscribers, but you have to consider the possible upside. Industry experts are quoted as saying that the U.S. online ad market is roughly $17 billion this year. They have set forward estimates at somewhere between $26 and $30 billion annually by the year 2011. This is only four years from now, we must remember.
If it were up to me, it would be a no-brainer. There are so many venues for obtaining news in today's world I find it hard to believe that anyone pays for an annual Wall Street Journal Online subscription. If i had to guess, I would estimate that a sizable chunk of the site's current subscribers are companies using soft dollars to pay for these services, and only a small portion are actual normal, everyday users like you and me. I could be wrong on this, but I doubt it.
From my own personal experience, I find at least four or five times a week I see a headline to a story pointing to Wall Street Journal Online that I would love to go read, but once there, I get the one paragraph teaser and then the "log in to read full story" option. What do I do? I go to the free online sites and look for the story there. I am sure I am not alone in this.
Perhaps I am just biased, and perhaps I just am too cheap to dish out the $79 to read what the site has to say, who knows? But I see nothing but upside should Mr. Murdoch open up the site to us all. What are your thoughts?
Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.
If it were up to me, it would be a no-brainer. There are so many venues for obtaining news in today's world I find it hard to believe that anyone pays for an annual Wall Street Journal Online subscription. If i had to guess, I would estimate that a sizable chunk of the site's current subscribers are companies using soft dollars to pay for these services, and only a small portion are actual normal, everyday users like you and me. I could be wrong on this, but I doubt it.
From my own personal experience, I find at least four or five times a week I see a headline to a story pointing to Wall Street Journal Online that I would love to go read, but once there, I get the one paragraph teaser and then the "log in to read full story" option. What do I do? I go to the free online sites and look for the story there. I am sure I am not alone in this.
Perhaps I am just biased, and perhaps I just am too cheap to dish out the $79 to read what the site has to say, who knows? But I see nothing but upside should Mr. Murdoch open up the site to us all. What are your thoughts?
Michael Fowlkes has worked as a stock trader for seven years and spent the last two years working as an analyst for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-11-2007 @ 4:27PM
E.J. said...
As a soon-to-be graduate at a business school, this would really be convenient given the fact that most of my classes consist of discussions relating to current events and projects about today's top companies and firms.
Many of my fellow classmates including myself have subscribed to the actual paper in the past at the beginning of semesters. Unfortunately, most of us don't have the time to read the actual paper and would like the convenience of reading it online.
As you have written a few days ago, some high school students would benefit from having this type of access in learning economics. It could even be part of their curriculum.