Content Matters

While the NY Times has killed its premium TimesSelect offering and the betting remains high that the Murdoch-led Wall Street Journal will remove its pay wall, the Financial Times has taken a few baby steps in that direction.

Beginning today, the FT will allow visitors to FT.com to access up to 30 articles per month for free.  For active users, an annual subscription to ft.com remains £98.99 per year.

Their stated goal is to encourage websites and blogs to link to FT content; today, many are hesitant to do so, as they don’t wish to link to a page their users cannot access.

I don’t see the rationale in this approach.  I understand the FT argument that their newspaper is really a b2b purchase, not a b2c one, yet this approach seems to guarantee their position as a niche financial offering.  Murdoch has touted international growth as a key driver for the Journal.  It seems clear that they will be going directly after the FT in this market.  So, what’s the FT’s response?  Allow only minimal usage for free, which should allow the Journal to stake out a dominant global position in the coming years.

The changes in the newspaper market are happening quickly and will continue to do so in the coming years.  A cautious approach by the FT is exactly the wrong approach and will ensure it remains a small, niche offering in the coming years.  Pearson had hoped to be a player in the Dow Jones acquisition, but its efforts to team with NBC and others faded.  Perhaps they will instead put the FT on the block, as this half-in, half-out model is doomed to fail.

PaidContent has a full interview with Ian Chen, publisher of FT.com.  Must-reading.