Comments on: The Business of Internet News

By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 19:43:47 +0000

I don't think Bberg has a service that competes with WSJ Online -- though they go head to head via WSJ/Dow Jones (and Reuters) ... which is in some ways is the same big reporting machine. ... It's a bit of apple and oranges but important eventually in how they're able to sell part of their product via the Internet to people who don't work at Morgan or Fleet or BofA.

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By: Jeffrey McManus

Jeffrey McManus — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 07:04:42 +0000

I think online ad rates rising would be an excellent idea as well. (Ms. Langfield, your five-spot is in the mail.)Is the Bloomberg offering really competitive with wsj.com? I thought Bloomberg was more real-time, like you pay them $2,000 a month and they plop a terminal on your desk. Do they have a price point for online content that's competitive with the $80ish a year that the WSJ charges?Reuters is an interesting case, too, because they syndicate content over the wire like the AP.

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By: Amy

Amy — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 06:06:34 +0000

I agree -- especially the greatest college reporters part. The WSJ does have some competition though -- Bloomberg, which charges for most of its content, the FT, which I think still charges, and Reuters, which is already charges for most of its financial content, and is considering charging for more online content. I agree that papers like the Santa Barbara News Press and Bakersfield Californian are just never going to get away with charging for online content - maybe to get to the archives, but not for the daily content. What I'd like to see is the online ad rates rise to a rate that makes it unnecessary for readers to pay. Though I don't know enough about the ad side to know if that's viable.

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