Paid Content

Abstract

Since the appearance of the internet, newspapers' traditional business models have come under pressure, reflecting declining advertising revenues and shrinking subscriptions. New means of income, especially from publishing online, are either lacking or are often not profitable enough to break even. Publishing houses need to find new business models; more and more newspapers in Germany have implemented paywalls on their websites. The national newspaper Die Welt, for example, launched a metered paywall in December 2012 in order to increase online revenues and print circulation. This study examines whether newspapers that have implemented paywalls offer premium content that readers cannot access for free elsewhere on the internet, since a paywall will only be successful if a news site offers added value. In our analysis we compare the content published in the Business and Finance section on the website www.welt.de before and after the launch of their paywall, using an in-depth content analysis. The results of the study show how introducing paywalls changes the news offered online. The results also offer insights into whether the content of news sites such as www.welt.de provide added value that merits payment.

KEYWORDS:

• digital revenue
• digital revenue model
• online news
• paid content
• paywall

Notes

1. As of 29 January 2014, the Bundesverband Deutscher Zeitungsverleger listed on its website 662 newspaper websites in Germany, from which only 74 are currently charging for content.

2. The New York Times metered model has been hailed a success, and an example for other newspapers to follow (see Kafka 2012).