People don’t pay for content, according to James McQuivey, vice president and principal analyst of Forrester Research, they pay for access to it. So, too, for the kind of content we call news.
This has always been true, McQuivey told the paidContent conference in New York this morning, but digital media has provoked a significant shift: Previously, the analog device that delivered the content — newspaper, televisions, magazine, you name it — was exclusively tied to the content. In a digital world, the platform — think computers, smartphones, cable services, e-readers — are often not controlled by the people producing the news.
Currently, he said, research shows that 77 percent of what Americans spend on content each month actually pays for access to media.
McQuivey draws two fairly obvious conclusions as spending tips more heavily toward access: lower overall revenue generated by the content itself, and much less money available to produce news and other forms of media.
All of which leaves news organizations and entrepreneurs with limited options that begin with the realization that charging for news itself is mostly a non-starter. Control of — or good partnerships with — access providers and device makers offers some revenue. But it will take more than that to sustain the kind of journalism we need.
So what, in addition to access, might people pay for around news?
Hey, the conference has been underway for less than an hour. Let’s see what develops.
