Some papers throw a paywall around their news on the net and reckon to raise the revenue they need to survive by charging subscriptions for access. Some leave their websites free and open, reckoning that ads can bridge the gap. Two starkly different positions (though many other papers adopt mix-and-match solutions somewhere in the middle).
The Murdoch news empire believes in walled gardens, so there was open satisfaction among rivals a couple of weeks ago when its latest results showed a failure to get to base camp (a steady interim state where digital money covers the loss of print advertising and cover-price cash). The wall wasn’t making enough. Chalk up one for the open brigade: led, in sheer visitor figures round the world, by the massive Mail Online.
Remember, the magic Mail formula – scheduled to grow 40% year on year – is supposed to bring in £100m in ads this financial year and more than make up for sliding print power: a virtuous plateau on the path to stability. But, alas, growth has dropped to 20% and the gap between print weakness and digital has opened much wider: from £1m last time round to £12m. The half-year digital ad take, at £36m, also makes £100m seem a long way off.
So, a no-score draw between rival approaches, a cause for nil celebration – even as the latest online browser totals show the Mail (and everyone else) falling in April. There are plenty of other things to factor in, to be sure: the Mail has other profitable sites; Mr Murdoch has added Australian TV stations to his brew. But neither of the big boys battling to find digital success has cracked it yet – as a little rain cloud drifts over that plateau.
