Murdoch
Out of context: Reply #43
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He's not crazy (unfortunately).
I think that paid online magazine content will become more commonplace and accepted after the introduction of the iPad. This will provide a backdrop to Murdoch's Times Online experiment.
If I were Murdoch, my most pressing concern would be _how_ and _where_ the user pays for content. You don't need to require a single purpose opt-in subscription for The Times to gain revenue. I agree that asking people to sign up for a single subscription wouldn't work .. there'd be too much opposition. We're used to viewing content on the web for free.
However a subscription to The Times Online can be added to the services provided to subscribers of other Murdoch-owned media services as a 'free extra'.
This would automatically create a large initial audience. Sky TV + Times Online access for example. The increased cost for subscribers would be minimal.
I think there'd also most likely be a trickle-down effect - other non-subscribers would become curious, and some would eventually start to subscribe independently, once use of the paid-for Times becomes common-place via the action of friends and colleagues.
Murdoch is going to be betting on a gradual change in online-behaviour. Providing he can convince other news publishers to start charging too, I think this kind of approach could work.