News Corp to charge for all news websites

Business Spectator ^ | Aug 6, 2009 | Staff reporter

[upchuck]

Media giant News Corporation Ltd intends to charge for all its news websites in a bid to lift revenues, as the transition towards online media permanently changes the advertising landscape.

News Corp chairman Rupert Murdoch told analysts in a conference call after News Corp released its full year results that the traditional newspaper business model has to change.

"The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive methods of distribution," Mr Murdoch said.

"But it has not made content free. Accordingly we intend to charge for all our news websites," he said.

He said News Corp would use the Wall Street Journal's online vehicle as a model.

"The extended downturn has only increased the drumbeat for change," he said, arguing that classified advertising for online news would never reach the levels once offered by print.

"Quality journalism is not cheap, and an industry that gives away its content, is simply cannibalising its ability to produce good reporting," Mr Murdoch said.

News Corp posted a full year operating profit of $US3.6 billion ($A4.3 billion), down from $US5.3 billion in the previous corresponding period.

The media company's newspaper division weighed on the result, booking an operating profit of $US466 million, down 41 per cent.

"The adjusted operating results primarily reflect lower advertising revenues and the strengthening of the US dollar against the Australian dollar," the company said in a statement.

[Warriormom]

Agree! My hubby and I were just discussing the tabloid quality of the Fox News website this week and agreed that we need a new Home Page.

[steven33442]

Can you imagine people paying the New York Post website? That will be funny.

As for FoxNews.com and FoxBusiness, I don’t use it now when it is free, I certainly won’t be paying for it.

[Comparative Advantage]

The Fox News site looks amateurish quite frankly. They waste too much main page space on celebrity clap trap, too. I use it in lieu of CNN but don’t really like it.

[GAB-1955]

That would include the New York Post and the Times of London. Shoot. I’ll have to start reading the Telegraph more.

[khnyny]

Fox News website sucks.

Good luck with that one.

[Oshkalaboomboom]

I couldn’t even tell you what the Fox News website looks like, and it’s free. What makes him think I’d pay to look at it?

[free_life]

Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha ....He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He He

[PIF]

Fox is owned by a truther - not that one, but Saudia Arabia Inc. who are certain they know the whereabouts of the Jews that destroyed so much of the NYC real estate they owned. They just tell their front man Murdock what areas to include or aviod in reporting the “news”.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

NewsCorp owned Websites:

Fox Interactive Media
AmericanIdol.com
AskMen.com
Fox.com
Foxsports.com
GameSpy
Hulu.com
kSolo
IGN
Drownedinsound.com
MySpace
MyNetworktv.com
NewRoo.com
Strategicdatacorp.com
Photobucket.com
Rotten Tomatoes
Scout.com
SpringWidgets
WhatIfSports
Beliefnet
News Digital Media
Slingshot Labs

NewsCorp Newspapers:

Newspapers

News International

—United Kingdom
The Sun
News of the World
The Times
Sunday Times
thelondonpaper (a free newspaper)

News Limited

—Australia
The Daily Telegraph (Sydney)
The Sunday Telegraph (Sydney)
The Australian (national)
The Weekend Australian (national)
The Advertiser (Adelaide)
Sunday Mail (Adelaide)
The Sunday Times (Perth)
Herald Sun (Melbourne)
Sunday Herald Sun (Melbourne)
mX (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane)
The Courier-Mail (Brisbane)
The Cairns Post (Cairns, Queensland)
Geelong Advertiser
Gold Coast Bulletin
The Mercury and Sunday Tasmanian (Hobart)
Northern Territory News (Darwin)
The Sunday Territorian (Darwin)
Australian Associated Press (45%)

—New Zealand
Sunday Star-Times

—Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea Post-Courier

—Fiji
The Fiji Times

—United States
New York Post
The Wall Street Journal
Times Herald Record
The Brooklyn Paper
Dow Jones & Company
Consumer Media Group
Wall Street Journal Europe
Wall Street Journal Asia
Barron’s
Marketwatch
Far Eastern Economic Review

Enterprise Media Group
Dow Jones Newswires
Factiva
Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Financial Information Services

Betten Financial News

Local Media Group
Ottaway Community Newspapers

STOXX (33%)
Vedomosti (33%)
SmartMoney (50%)

[catfish1957]

Strategic blunder........ The superior ratings and money for Fox will dry up like Hilary’s face.

[upchuck]

Who cares, we got Breitbart etc.

Being on a dialup line at 49K, I have little use for graphic intense web sites like Fox News. Townhall.com is prolly the worst. Their home page takes nearly three minutes to load. So I never go there.

Murdoch can charge if he wants, won't bother me. Go for it Rupert!

[pvoce]

Why should anyone pay twice for the same content? If anyone has FNC on cable/satellite, why should anyone pay again for the same content just because they’re at work/out of town?

[Obadiah]

Didn’t know that. Thanks for the list.

[ZX12R]

The FoxNews.com layout sucks, so I don’t read them anyway. No big deal to me.

I go there occasionally, but I've always hated their website. It's slow, hangs up, and has too much advertisement loading constantly. Worst one out there, in my opinion. Pay for it? LOL!