Resumen de Is the digital-subscription strategy a lifesaver innovation for the legacy print companies?
According to Schumpeter (1942), the concept of innovation is the driving cause of economic development, and it consists of the following five situations: the introduction of a new good; the introduction of a new method of production; the opening of a new market; the concept of a new source of supply of raw materials; the carrying out of a new organization. This paper asserts that the digital subscription strategy, which is nowadays kind of a mantra among the CEO of the print legacy companies all over the world may open a new market; it can generate a cheaper way to distribute newspapers and then contribute to update and upgrade the ecosystem. However, in terms of Average-Revenue-Per-User (ARPU), the financial result is not outstanding, providing mediocre average revenues mainly due to costly trial rates and a low loyalty rate. Over the last few months, two outlets (New York Times, Daily Telegraph) disclosed that kind of numbers, making clear that a company earns less money from a digital edition (between three and four times less than a print edition) excluding advertising revenues. Nevertheless, the issue of the profitability is not clear, as the legacy companies’ do not make a difference between the print and digital operating costs, some being shared (journalists wages as an example). In the long run, companies will try to sell the benefits of subscriptions to advertisers. On the journalistic side of the venture, thematic products might be launched and monetized, such as Crosswords, Parenting, Cooking is already in the digital portfolio of the New York Times. However, it will require specialized journalists to add value and make the customer pay. Different newsletters are issued to gauge the beat markets (business, sports, education, for example) in terms of monetization.
