Concerns News Corp is ‘massaging’ digital numbers as Supercoach users added to tally
Senior media buyers are questioning News Corp Australia’s claim today it has reached 200,000 digital subscribers, pointing to the inclusion of non-news properties including fantasy football league Supercoach in the tally.
News has previously not included Supercoach in its numbers, and claims last July it had passed 100,000 digital subscribers only included figures from major mastheads such as the Daily Telegraph, Herald Sun and The Australian. However, today’s announcement sees the inclusion of paid members of the AFL tipping competition and also the investment newsletter Eureka Report.
One major media agency CEO, who declined to be named, told Mumbrella: “200,000 is obviously a good headline, but without a breakdown of where the numbers are coming from it is quite meaningless.
“The question we really want to understand is how many people are paying for quality journalism, in something like The Australian, versus someone signing up to win some money by tipping footy.
It’s not the only numbers they are inflating, so why should it surprise anyone?
So the only person quoted by name in this story (apart from Peter Tonagh) is a media analyst who thinks that Eureka Report is bundled with The Australian. 5 seconds of research would show that Eureka Report is not bundled with The Australian.
Also, if these ‘senior media buyers’ are actually concerned about this, they should have the guts to go on the record.
What can i say???
Ten dollars off my groceries to take a dead tree Telly on Sunday.
THEY PAID ME TEN DOLLARS TO TAKE THEIR NEWSPAPER ON SUNDAY.
…. business model.
Gawd. WHY does anyone take this seriously??? Has everyone forgotten that the biggest ego in News Ltd can’t even say for sure if his paper is losing $30m or $15m or $50m!!! Meanwhile, over at Fairfax, Steptoe and Son are rummaging around for any old boots to pile into their jumble sale of “achievements”.
I see land, Dad. I do!
Why are they only allowing the digital subscriptions of two mastheads (the Aus and Herald Sun) to be audited? The only logical conclusion is that they are embarrassed by how few people are prepared to pay for the digital versions of their other mastheads (the Telegraph, Courier Mail and Adelaide Advertiser). If they were good numbers, they would be crowing. Seems to me Fairfax is doing better even though they launched their digital subscriptions a year AFTER News Corp did. And at least they’re being transparent about their numbers.
Meanwhile, has anyone checked out the new-look telegraph and herald sun sites launched today. Don’t think I have ever seen a more cluttered, crowded, confused (and confusing) over-designed and over-wrought website – complete with the very loooooong right rail of shame, taken straight from the daily mail play book. Looks like something a teenager on too much Ritalin might have done.
On further questioning of the numbers does anyone know the breakdown of digital only and print+digital sales. Usually if you sign up to print there is an option to also get digital as well, either for free or greatly discounted. These print people would only conflate the numbers as they are not the right people we want to know about. We want to know, with the digital only focus, how many of these people are wiling to pay for content.
The numbers are meaningless and certainly not commercially important. So far neither fairfax not news has a business of significance out of print.
@ jack: I think fairfax break this out when they report on their digital subscription numbers ie they report in how many people are paying for a digital only subscription, and separately how many have activated digital access as part of their print subscription .
@ no nonsense: you’re spot on. Whichever way you slice these numbers, digital subscriptions are not, and will not, come close to replacing the revenues lost from print. Digital advertising won’t do it either (news businesses’ share of total digital ad revenue is very small and growth is stalling). Savage cost cutting in these businesses has helped to close the gap, but it also is not enough – and no business has ever cut its way to success. This is why newspaper businesses worldwide are scrambling to come up with new revenue streams – content marketing, events etc. It remains to be seen how much impact these will have on the revenue line
@Stan: totally. The only role played by News and Fairfax is to occupy space. When they finally succumb it is to be hoped that some real innovators can make use of the capacities now available to news media.
In the meamn time, we are having to put up with endless streams of drivel. Factless, newsless, often splenetic drivel.