How Boston Globe makes local news pay | The Sun launches online reg wall
And why the launch of Microsoft Copilot Daily is a key moment for news publishers
Good morning and welcome to your Press Gazette Future of Media newsletter on Thursday 17 October, brought to you this week in association with Atex.
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Boston is not in the top 20 US cities by population, but its local news title the Globe is second only to the LA Times in terms of online subscribers.
Today it has around 1,000 staff and more than 250,000 paying online subscribers and is an exemplar of how to make local news pay. I'd be surprised if there are 250,000 paying online local news subscribers in the whole of the UK.
For the first episode in the new season of our Future of Media Explained podcast I asked Globe chief commercial officer Kayvan Salmanpour how the title has managed to not just survive but thrive in the digital age.
The title escaped the destruction of 2008/2009 by focusing on quality, backing itself in terms of what it was prepared to charge and adopting a simple paywall discounting strategy which appears to work. You can read my interview with Kayvan here and listen to the podcast version here.
Today we also have an exclusive on The Sun launching an online registration wall around some of its content. The move allows the title to charge a premium for advertising targeted at registered readers and follows the launch of a £4.99 charge to Sun website readers who opt out of cookie consent.
And finally, David Buttle explains why the launch of Microsoft Copilot Daily at the start of this month is a significant moment for publishers. It combines voice search with AI-read news summaries and, encouragingly, results in publishers being paid when their work is cited.
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On Press Gazette
The key decisions that saved the Boston Globe
“We did a lot of complex testing which ultimately brought us back around to the simplicity of what we were offering: create a great product, allow audiences to sample it, create a seamless way for them to trial the product and then repeat that as much as possible and keep things simple.”
The Sun launches registration wall for premium content
The Sun has begun rolling out a registration wall asking users to sign up for free to read certain stories.
Why Microsoft Copilot Daily launch is ‘moment of significance’ for news industry
“With Copilot Daily, Microsoft is creating a product which, in some circumstances and for some users, will disrupt an entirely different kind of traffic: that which arrives directly.”
Latest podcast
Making local news pay the Boston Globe way
Boston Globe chief commercial office Kayvan Salamanpour reveals the key decisions made around online subscriptions, advertising and other revenue areas which have enabled the title to thrive in the digital age and continue to support investigative journalism.
Press Gazette highlights
Business and specialist titles opt for Flip-Pay to power paid content (promoted)
Economist ‘future-proofing’ bid brings back brand advertising and targets students
BBC News to close Hardtalk, Click and Asian Network news service in latest round of 185 job cuts
Kent Online publisher Iliffe rolls out metered paywalls across group
Former Scott Trust member speaks out over plan to sell Observer to Tortoise
AI challenge asks journalists to pitch for help to solve industry challenges (promoted)