Evening Standard lost £21m in 2023 | Iliffe Media rolls out metered paywalls
And a former Scott Trust member speaks out on Observer sale
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The latest accounts for the Evening Standard underline why owner Evgeny Lebedev had to pull the plug on the title's daily print edition.
It has made losses of more than £100m since 2016, culminating in a £20.6m deficit last year.
After becoming a free title in 2009 the Standard managed a few years of slim profitability before heading firmly into the red over the last seven years.
It is a story which (and I admit here that hindsight is a wonderful thing) underlines the folly of giving news away for free.
There are a number of reasons why London is such a tough place to make local news pay including its highly transient population and competition from the BBC, LBC and every national newspaper. And the Standard has always behaved more like a national newspaper than a local one.
But contrast the Standard with, say, the Boston Globe in the USA, which covers a smaller economy and population than London. The Globe was facing the prospect of closure in 2010 and decided to charge for online content and double down on quality. Today it has some 265,000 paying online readers. Read (and listen) to my interview with Globe chief commercial officer Kayvan Salmanpour for more on that story later this week.
Family-owned regional news group Iliffe has just decided to adopt metered paywalls across its network of sites, charging £4.99 for ad-free reading and premium content. We spoke to chief operating officer Ian Carter about why they have tweaked the paywall strategy for different markets and how they are responding to reader gripes.
And as Tortoise Media continues its bid to acquire The Observer I have spoken to a former member of the Scott Trust who was present when it decided to buy the world's oldest Sunday newspaper in 1993. He explains why he thinks Guardian senior management see the Tortoise deal as "manna from heaven".
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New from Press Gazette
Evening Standard losses grew to £21m in 2023
This is worse than its first year after going free in 2009, when the company reported pre-tax losses of £20.3m.
Kent Online publisher Iliffe rolls out metered paywalls across group
Native content, affiliate articles and BBC-funded local democracy reporter coverage will all remain free, as will “anything where we think it would be morally wrong to paywall it,” chief operating officer Ian Carter told Press Gazette.
Former Scott Trust member speaks out over plan to sell Observer to Tortoise
The Observer has always been vulnerable, says former Manchester Evening News editor Mike Unger.
News in brief
BBC director-general Tim Davie has banned the word "talent", which is often used for presenters and other on-air names. He told Nick Robinson on Today: "You’re a presenter, I’m a leader of an organisation, and we’re here to serve.” (Deadline)
Tortoise is in "advanced talks" to raise funds from Labour donor and former Autoglass boss Gary Lubner, the FT reports. The deal will reportedly stand whether or not Tortoise successfully acquires The Observer, and would give Lubner "a shareholding of less than a fifth of the business" - potentially the second-largest shareholding in the company after James Harding's. (Financial Times)
Tighter safeguards on spy bodies like MI5 and MI6 accessing journalists' texts, emails or calls come into force today. They must now get independent authorisation from the Investigatory Powers Commissioner. A lawyer for human rights organisation Liberty described the change as "a huge victory for the rights of journalists and press freedom in the UK". (Liberty)
National World titles The Yorkshire Post and The Scotsman have launched a limited time deal with The New York Times that means their annual digital subscribers also get unlimited access to the US giant for a year. The combo cost for a year is £129.90; the NYT normally costs £20 for a year then £90 once the promotional price elapses.
Reach says digital revenues were up 2.5% in Q3 despite a page view drop of 5% year-on-year because of higher yields. However because of the decline in print overall revenues were down 2.5% year-on-year. (Reach)
Tech journalist Steve O’Hear, who worked for Tech Crunch for more than a decade until 2021, has died aged 49 after a short illness. He was previously described as "the preeminent voice in the tech scene" by the founder of Monzo. (Sifted)
Ben Hunte, previously the first BBC LGBTQ correspondent and global correspondent for Vice News in London, is becoming a CNN anchor and correspondent in Atlanta. He will host CNN Newsroom at weekends for morning audiences in EMEA (late night in US). (CNN)
Previously on Press Gazette
Diversification and acquisitions fuels revenue growth for PA Media
Observer falls outside Scott Trust’s ‘core responsibilities’, minutes from 1993 suggest
IPSO rejects complaint over ‘insulting’ Mail article linking businessman to suicides
Top 50 news websites in the US: All but four sites saw traffic fall in September
Financial Times exceeds £500m annual revenue for first time
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