Paid content models in the spotlight at Bild Summit in Berlin

Photo: Marie Bernhard

The participants discussed achievements and challenges of digital paid models. Along with Bild, WeltN24 and Business Insider, other participants included Financial Times, The New York Times, Der Spiegel, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Aftonbladet and Verdens Gang, as well as The Straits Times, the first Asian media brand to attend the two-day conference.

Dr. Mathias Döpfner, CEO of Axel Springer: “Digital journalism will only be a financially successful business model with paid models. We’re glad to see more and more publishers have now put this awareness into action, thus increasing reader acceptance for paid models on the internet. With the International Paid Content Summit we have established a conference where leading media brands from throughout the world come together to discuss the ongoing development of digital pay strategies.”

Above: Stefan Betzold and Donata Hopfen. Photo: Marie Bernhard

A survey among participants shows that overall, paid content is on the up – 74 per cent of the experts surveyed had perceived an increased willingness of readers to pay for journalism on the internet (previous year: 57 per cent). And 60 per cent of those surveyed are now of the opinion that paid content is established in their respective markets (previous year: 56 per cent). A full 67 per cent of respondents favour integration of pay models on distribution platforms like Facebook, which would represent a further opportunity to monetise journalistic content on the internet.

A new feature this year was the “Paid Content Award”, which honours outstanding performance in the area of digital paid models. A jury of the Paid Content Summit team conferred the inaugural “Paid Content Award” on the Wall Street Journal. Stefan Betzold, managing director of Bild Digital, explained the jury’s decision: “The ‘Wall Street Journal’ introduced digital subscriptions 20 years ago, making it a pioneer in the paid content field. Last year the ‘Wall Street Journal’ radically reinvented its pay model. The introduction of a new user-centric paid model led to impressive growth rates for their digital subscribers.”

Participating media brands of the fourth International Paid Content Summit:

Aftenposten (Norway), Aftonbladet (Sweden), AUTO BILD (Germany), BILD (Germany), BUSINESS INSIDER (USA), Corriere della Sera (Italy), De Persgroep (Netherlands), WeltN24 (Germany), Dow Jones (USA), Ekstra Bladet (Denmark), Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (Germany), Financial Times (UK), Handelsblatt (Germany), Het Laatste Nieuws (Belgium), Jyllands-Posten (Denmark), Le Figaro (France), Le Monde (France), News UK – The Times & Sunday Times (UK), Newsweek (Poland), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland), Schibsted (Norway), Spiegel (Germany), Süddeutsche Zeitung (Germany), The New York Times (USA), The Straits Times (Singapore), Unidad Editorial (Spain), Verdens Gang (Norway), Wall Street Journal (USA), Zeit Online (Germany).

Source: Axel Springer

Axel soringer is a FIPP member.

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