Newspapers will increasingly to act more like cable channels as they move to the web and mobile apps, creating a wholesale marketplace for advertising, according to James Murdoch, James Murdoch, News Corp.’s chairman for Europe and Asia.
“Digital news will look like cable channels with affiliated revenue,” Murdoch said at a media conference in Monaco last week.
He added that titles will compete for ad revenue across this market and media buyers will “make a big commitment” to purchase advertising, rather than making bookings for just a month at a time.
News Corp.’s UK titles the Times and Sunday Times put up paywalls in July, which reduced the number of readers and advertisers on the sites.
Murdoch this month said these newspapers have more than 105,000 paying online customers, and today characterized paying readers as “more engaged.”
“People assume that 100 percent reach is necessary all the time — it’s not the case,” he said.
Murdoch said the companies target was a blend of ad dollars and subscription revenue, with a growing reliance on the titles’ paid-for iPad applications.
“If you’re going to monetize something you shouldn’t give it away for free,” Murdoch said. “If you’re investing in something and figuring how to make money, it doesn’t work if you give away.”
