Paying the Price

26th Mar

Eight out of ten Brits are not prepared to pay for online news, a OnePoll study has revealed.

Researchers found 81 per cent of people who buy newspapers on a regular basis are not currently willing to make the leap to paying for online content.

Just seven per cent of those polled said they were ready to start putting their hand in their pocket to access newspaper websites which start charging customers for access.

Bizarrely, even though the majority were unprepared to pay for online news only half knew how much their favourite paper cost on a daily basis.

One in three said they had a 'rough idea' while 17 per cent had 'no idea'.

The research - carried out on the back of a tweet by west country PR man Andy Barr from @10Yetis - also found:

48.5 per cent said they felt more loyalty to the printed copy of the paper than the online version
24.7 per cent said they felt more loyalty to the website
52.8 per cent admitted they were unaware they could be paying to read newspapers online in the not too distant future
42.9 per cent of those who were willing to pay for online news said they would prefer to do so on a daily basis
25.1 per cent who were willing to pay said they would prefer to do so yearly
19.5 per cent who were willing to pay said they would pay monthly
12 per cent said weekly was a better option
6.7 per cent said they liked the idea of a 'payment by article' system but 24.2 per cent gave it a firm thumbs down

newscharge1

Worryingly for print journalism only one in four people said they felt their newspaper always provided value for money, 47 per cent said 'sometimes', and 15 per cent said they felt they 'didn't provide value for money'.

The good news for papers is that those who bought them regularly did so because they liked having 'something to hold' which they could 'read at their leisure'.

The idea has been muted that newspapers will offer free content to customers who provide them with substantial personal details in order to market that information to advertisers who will then target people according to their demographic profile.

Almost one in four people said they would rather do this than pay for online news, while 33 per cent said they would rather pay to view websites than hand over personal info.

Worryingly, more than half of those questioned (56 per cent) said they were likely to start exploring previously undiscovered free news sites if newspapers start charging.

HOW MUCH READERS WOULD BE PREPARED TO PAY FOR ONLINE NEWS WEEKLY (split by newspaper)

Sun readers (would be prepared to pay) £0.50
Daily Star £0.47
Daily Mirror £0.50
Daily Express £0.58
Daily Mail £0.50
Daily Sport £0.66
Daily Telegraph £0.60
Times £0.65
Independent £0.60
Guardian £0.54

howmuch4