The Hoopla set to charge for content with paywall
Women’s website The Hoopla has erected a paywall introducing a subscription model after three years of providing news and opinion for free.
The website co-founded by editor-in-chief Wendy Harmer and publisher Jane Waterhouse will relaunch with a new look on April 14 and offer subscriptions priced at 99 cents for a day pass, with monthly options ranging to a $75 annual subscription.
Waterhouse, CEO of publisher We Magazines, said the changes reflected the commercial reality for an independently-owned publishing house in a crowded market.
“The brutal fact is that we can no longer survive on advertising alone,” she said. “We considered a raft of alternatives: including publishing less frequently; reducing our roster of paid writers; or reproducing cheaper, syndicated content.
This is a publication I would definitely pay for. I ♥ The Hoopla.
I don’t see it working. Radical lefties love to get on there and have a go but, once asked to pay for the privilege, I reckon 3/4 of them will move on.
So, they face the same affliction practically every other digital publisher does: digital advertising, with ever-more inventory and ever-decreasing yields, is not enough to pay the bills. Best of luck with subscription but unfortunately I suspect this also will not be enough …
That’s like paying to hear your wife talk to her friends. Good luck
Darren – it’s because of attitudes like yours that The Hoopla exists. I’ll be paying. I think the 99c day pass is very clever.
It used to be two women gossiping over the back fence. Now they have to pay to do it. Talk *isn’t* cheap.
Its a tough call but would probably sign up
Hoopla is the best of them. Way too much self promotion going with the others.
Interesting that they’re not quoting any page stats…
I’ll happily pay for the year. The content is so worth it.
The Day Pass is definitely a good option to give. I think a lot of people who read Fairfax sites up to their monthly limit (like me) would be much more likely to pay for a 99c Day Pass rather than commit to a full month. Once you start at one day, you would find yourself paying more often and I think a fair few people would then graduate to a full subscription.
How ironic, only last week did The Hoopla run a story on minimum wage workers and lack of support and understanding from the government and society as a whole. $120 for a years subscription is steep for someone earning $16 an hour. They say they’re demographic is for middle aged women? They might want to change that to rich, middle class, middle aged women.
For those who are asking, our stats are: 120,000 UBs and 400,000 page views per month. Thanks.
Two women gossiping over the back fence! @aussie_austridge. Only one woman now, cos the other is your boss, you dimwit. And the other woman fed your dinner to the dog.
The Hoopla is way way more than women gossiping over the back fence. Perhaps you should read it sometime Aussie Austridge.
After being free for so long, people may resist like they did with Fairfax papers on ipad etc
Sorry, too far left for me and their commenters are the nastiest, most delusional True Believers on the interwebz.
I cant see what the fuss is all about . The Hoopla is a commercial operation – they have to pay their bills somehow . The advertising model hasn’t worked so well so the subs might work better . I have never read The Hoopla but I do wish them all the best . The more independent Australian publishers we have the better.