AM New York had more readers during the first years, Metro took over between 2008 and 2010; in 2011 and 2012 am New York had more readers but this year Metro (733,000 readers against 718,000 for am New York) took over again according to Scarborough research.

Metro reaches 4.4% of the New York population on an average day, am New York 4.3%. On a weekly basis Metro reaches 8.8% of the New Yorkers, am New York 8.2%. (Metro Press Release)

As both papers have a circulation of around 325,000 this means that an average paper is read by more than two readers.

]]> http://www.newspaperinnovation.com/index.php/2013/05/23/metro-and-am-new-york-readershi/feed/ 0 http://www.newspaperinnovation.com/index.php/2013/05/22/politico-tests-readers%e2%80%99-willingness-to-pay-for-journalism/ http://www.newspaperinnovation.com/index.php/2013/05/22/politico-tests-readers%e2%80%99-willingness-to-pay-for-journalism/#comments Wed, 22 May 2013 21:10:46 +0000 Piet Bakker http://www.newspaperinnovation.com/?p=6270 Can frees join the paid? Politico likes to thinks so.

The US free website/newspaper will start testing metered pay-models for at least six months in the six states and internationally.

Readers will be required to pay for content after consuming a set number of pages on the website. Politico will test different price points and page limits to find the sweet spot for our readership. (…) We believe that every successful media company will ultimately charge for its content.

Politico operates a website with high value political content since 2007. In 2009 it launched a free daily – circulation around 35,000 – that was distributed on Capital Hill and environment on days when Congress was in session. The newspaper provided the company with revenues because the website was lossing money.

Politico already operates a paid PRO version with alerts and exclusive content. The new version is another sign on media companies shifting towards a paid content model.

With more than 300 media companies now charging for online content in the U.S., the notion of paying to read expensive-to-produce journalism is no longer that exotic for sophisticated consumers. This is a very promising, if uncertain, trend in our country. The collective decision by media companies to give away for free a product of high value and high cost will go down as one of the worst, self-defeating moves in the history of industry.

Apart from paid content, Politico also started with an experiment with sponsored content (right).

The content appears on the frontpage, just like any other content, with the same font and design, and with a byline, but with a separate heading that says Sponsor-generated content:

The treatment strikes a fine balance between protecting readers and promoting products.

Free daily 20 Minutos, owned by Norwegian media house Schibsted, is combining editions in Sevilla, Malaga, Cordoba and Granada to one Andalucia edition.

Until last year 20 Minutos had 15 editions, in July of 2012 seven editions were closed. In 2013 only five (Madrid, Barcelona, Zaragoza, Valencia and Andalucia) remain.

In the beginning of this month Schibsted already announced cost reductions because of losses in Spain and France.

20 Minutos was the only remaining national free daily in Spain after the closures of Metro (2009), ADN (2011) and Qué! (2012). Also a dozen local free papers closed down. Total circulation of free newspapers in Spain is now down to less than 800,000.

The app is available in a French and Dutch language version on the Google Playstore, the iPad is available on iTunes.

Papers until 30 days ago can be read on the new platform.

The free app is sponsored by the recruitement programma of Belgium Railways NMBS.

This “No Picture Edition” paid tribute to pictures by proving how much we miss them when they are not there.

This innovative campaign for the Metro Photo Challenge 2012 resulted in a 377% increase in participants, a 139% increase in visitors and 139% more photos.

It was the sixth time the competition ran worldwide, and the results were better than ever before.

The No Picture Campaign recently received four awards in the Creative Circle Awards: the Ambient Award, Integrated Award and Event & Digital Events Award. Metro also received the award for Client of the Year. Metro Photo Challenge in total received eight prize nominations from Creative Circle, INMA, Communicator Awards and Marketing Week. (Metro Press Release)

Seee the Youtube video of how the audience reacted.

Readers can download the free Blippar app on their device, open the app, and hold it over “blippable” content in Metro to see videos, get coupons, shop online or unlock myriad other interactive content experiences on their smart devices.

Metro officially launched Blippar in the Summer Movie Preview issue on May 3 (right). Readers were able to virtually “try on” the Iron Man suit, answer a celebrity gossip poll, reveal hidden content, and see a movie trailer. (Metro Press Release through Wall Street Journal.)

More pictures with augmented reality examples can be found here.

Free daily Metro is closing in – growing from 266,000 in 2010 tot 291,000 in 2013.

In the 21-54 age group Metro (203,000 readers) surpassed the Inquirer (198,000 readers).

The 3D-logo (and slightly darker blue than the previous one) will be used for all editions of the newspaper (French, German and Italian versions). (click on paper for bigger version)

Also the website and the Friday-magazine will use the new logo.

The e-paper of 20 Minuten can be viewed here.

In 2012 the EBITDA for both operations was 48 million NOK (€6.3 million).

20 Minutes France had a revenue decline of 20 percent in Q1 2013, 20 Minutes Spain saw revenues declining by 23 percent.

In both countries cost reductions have been realized or are still in progess.

Compared to 2011, circulation dropped with 11% to 15.5 million copies. The number of countries with free dailies remained the same with 27, the number of titles went down from 81 to 75.

Free dailies closed down in Denmark (Urban), Greece (Metro), Italy (City), Luxembourg (Point24), Spain (Qué!, Telegrafico Madrid) and the Netherlands (De Pers). Editions were closed by Direct Matin Plus (France), Metro (Italy) and 20 Minutos (Spain). Other papers just lowered distribution.

In the coming weeks I will focus in detail on developments in different European countries.

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