Many newspapers nationwide (worldwide?) are experimenting with different models of online subscriptions.

I realize that everyone likes getting everything free, but from a business perspective, it can be quite costly. Particularly for print media.

What are your thoughts on online subscriptions? Are there any sites that you subscribe to either by providing your email address, or (egads!) pay for?

Please let us know how you feel about online subscriptions, make suggestions about what you think might work in our market.

Some ideas I have tossed around include:

Offering the section fronts of our paper free to the public, but require (free or small fee) subscriptions to the interior stories.

Offering a subscription for a nominal fee that would offer access to an advertisment-free edition.

Offering a premium subscription that would allow unlimited access to our online stories and archives.

Offering free access to print subscribers, and a nominal fee subscription to non-print subscribers.

So, let's hear it from the peanut gallery.....

I'd much rather get the real paper then the online subscription, but I think you should maybe only display top local stories, and then charge for everything else. Just my two cents.

Wow, WM, that's a tough question!
While I realize a business plan without an expection of profit is doomed to failure, I'm not sure about a subscription to the on-line offering.

I believe the New York Times and the Washington Post require you to register with them in order to see their online content. This just involves some simple demographic data and of course your email addy. So far I have refused to provide that info and thus forego their online content. I do regularly read the online Sunpaper from Baltimore and regularly post to their forums. As of yet, they have chosen not to seek fees for their online content and do not require any type of "registration" to view their content. I read several other papers online across the country due to specific interests in that locality.

If those online news sources were to charge a fee for accessing their content, I probably would not subscribe. As to the Herald-Mail company charging for accessing their content I probably would not choose to contribute. As a card carrying home delivery member I feel I already pay for that privilege! However, charging for archive material, as the H-M does now do, is not a problem for me.

Seek your profits from advertisements. I personally do not mind closing pop up windows, or viewing banner ads in order to view your content. In fact, I have been known to click on a banner ad or pop-up or two if the product that's being advertised is of interest to me. Perhaps from time to time I've even purchased something advertised from someone's web site. But I draw the line at un-solicited email. I refuse to respond, or even open, anything that has been bulk mailed!

My personal business plan so far has been not to pay for on-line content. Several web sites I regularly review do have charges for their premium content. So far I have resisted paying for that content. But, I fear in the future I will be paying for that content, like it or not. The 'net has definitely become commercialized and can no longer be considered the intellectual property it once was (or as Al Gore designed it ).

My idea of a fair price for premium content, for a news site, would be perhaps in the neighborhood of between $12 and $20 YEARLY. For other sites it would depend of course how valuable I perceive that site to be TO ME.

I do pay for some premium content on the 'net. For instance I do pay for USENET access because my ISP's offerings are so meager. And there are other sites I am strongly considering paying a subscription fee to. But at this point in time, and since I already receive 7 days of the H-M at home, I would not pay for H-M's online content.

One Newspaper site I regularly read actually will provide Internet Service and a subscription to their print edition for a set monthly fee. (email or pm me if you want the site).

Hope this helps Webmaster. Sorry for being so longwinded!

Thanks Yo!

I am sorry, I was not very clear in my explanations of ideas. My intent would be that print subscribers would have free access to everything (except archives, but that could also be set up as unlimited access for home delivery customers for a set monthly "upgrade fee" if they wanted that).

The whole idea is to keep our print subscribers happy by making sure they have the benefit of the online edition, but not to "give away the house" and have people not subscribe to the print edition because they can get it all online for free.

In either case you would still enjoy the full digital version, as well as the print.

Personally, as much as I thrive on digital media, I do not think I will ever give up the print edition with my morning coffee.

Same here. I'm lost when a holiday occurs that prevents me from retrieving my paper edition of the Herald Mail.

One of the computer magazines I subscribe to now charges to download their little utility programs from their website. Some of these programs are quite useful. Since I subscribe to the print edition I feel I should get these downloads for no additional charge. But not so. The magazine publisher feels I should pay extra for this service of downloading. I will let the publisher know how I feel when I fail to renew my subscription to their magazine (which I've subscribed to for almost twenty years).

Same with the Herald Mail. I feel as long as I subscribe to the print edition I should also be allowed access to all online content. Except for the archives of course. To me it's okay to charge for that. Afterall, it does cost to maintain the server space.

I'm not that familiar with the print edition of your paper,
but I visit the online version almost everyday. I'm going
to guess that what is posted online is a fraction of what's
printed, but then again, maybe what you post online are
all the articles written by your staff, while much of the
paper consists of AP news articles and contributions from
other journalists....I don't know.

What I do know is that the Eastern Panhandle Journal
only publishes 4 stories online each day...two that are
newsworthy within the region, and two that are sports
oriented, also focused on regional activites. That is
a fair tradeoff between those that read it for free online,
and those that pay for the whole enchilada.

The Washington Post serves up their entire paper at no
charge, and the only form of registration (if I recall) is
your age, your gender, and your zip code. I have stopped
registering at sites like the LA Times, the Dallas News, and
places that require an e-mail address, since inevitably that
list will be shared and my inbox will fillup with junk.

Other more high-profile sites like CNN offer a selection
of stories for free, but require online subscriptions for
certain 'premium' features and articles...if you decide to
collect compensation in some form or another, this is the
way I'd prefer you should go.

Have you noticed any decline in the number of print subscriptions
since you went online ? I would guess that the cost of publishing
online is small, and should basically be a simple process, since
I would hope that your 'copy' is created electronically and the
content could easily be shared between your presses and
your servers. It seems to me to be an inexpensive form of
advertising for your paper as well as your supporting advertisers, too.