Murdoch Business Acumen Sparkles
December 19, 2009
I read in the hard copy version of the Wall Street Journal a short self-congratulatory article called “Sony Reader to Offer Journal Subscriptions.? In my Harrod’s Creek, mine-drainage edition, the story was on B6 in the December 18, 2009 edition. I did a quick search on Topix and found lots of articles about this news development. I am very sensitive to the value of an important news story, and I fully expected to have to pay to see information about this news development. Was I wrong? Yes.
The story reported that Sony and the Wall Street Journal have crafted a deal for digital subscriptions. The idea is that I can get the Wall Street Journal plus some other high-value content on my Sony reader. My Sony reader suffered a broken screen. My queries to Sony went unanswered, so I disassembled the device to see what was inside and vowed never to buy another Sony book reading device. The device lacked sufficient rigidity for the rigors of this addled goose’s fast-paced life. Fatal flaw in my opinion.
The information that interested me in the Wall Street Journal and Sony announcement was I would have to pay $20 for the digital edition and another $14 for the MarketWatch information. I have documented the spam I have received from the Wall Street Journal, and I demonstrated that if I simply hold out, the Wall Street Journal will sell the paper edition to me in Harrod’s Creek for less than $80 per year.
So, let’s think about this bit of Murdoch business acumen. I wait for an email or coupon promotion and buy the paper edition for $80. I know that $80 does not cover the cost of much more than a pizza for the IT guys in lower Manhattan on the Sunday night shift.
For a mere $240 a year, I get a digital edition. For the electronic version on the Sony gizmo which costs somewhere between $150 to $400, I pay $160 more.
Yep, maybe that will work for some folks. I don’t think this will work for me in Harrod’s Creek. I heard that newspapers are being given away in a number of cities. Why? People aren’t buying them. So, will differential pricing work? In my experience, the old pricing models are not amenable to the rigors of the digital crowd.
If I search Topix for the phrase “brilliant pricing models”, will this news story come up?
Stephen E. Arnold, December 19, 2009
You got me between a rock and a hard place. I was not paid to write this article, but I have to report to the Council of Economic Advisers this sad situation. I wonder if any of those bean counters can find a way to make this Wall Street Journal pricing work?
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