Dharmash Mistry: National newspaper websites need just 5% of readers to pay

Posted by Press Gazette on 3 November 2009 at 11:40
Tags: Advertising, Media Business, National Newspapers, New Media, Newspapers, Online

National newspapers need to convince less than five per cent of their current online readers to pay for access to content to make a move away from an advertising revenue model successful, a private equity financier told the Guardian.

Former senior Emap executive Dharmash Mistry, now a partner at private equity firm Balderton Capital, has claimed that getting around three to four per cent of an a paper’s online audience to pay a modest £3 a month would cover current digital ad revenue he estimates most publishers currently generate.

Mistry said the analysis was based on a print website attracting 20 million unique users a month, adding that each national probably makes under £20m in online ad revenue a year.

Tags: Advertising, Media Business, National Newspapers, New Media, Newspapers, Online