How The FT And NYT Aim To Make Paywalls Pay

paidcontent reporting:
...But here is the interesting point: The strongest players don’t just bow to the inevitable, they accelerate their transition to digital. This week, I was struck by the fact two such leaders made the same move: The New York Times (NYSE: NYT) and the Financial Times both announced a whopping 25 percent newsstand price hike:
– The NYT moves from $2 (£1.29) to $2.50 from Monday to Saturday, with no change for the Sunday edition still priced at $5 in New York, and $6 elsewhere.
– The FT goes from £2.20 to £2.50 on weekdays, as the weekend edition moves from £2.80 to £3.
Those numbers are really meaningful: a 10 percent increase every two years or so can be seen as an inflation adjustment – a generous one considering the inflation rate in those countries to be about 2.5 percent-3.5 percent. A 25 percent increase is a strategic decision aimed at accelerating the switch to digital. That is especially true for the Financial Times whose paper version now costs 40 percent more than it did last October.
Interestingly enough, for a New York Times addict, reading the paper online with the cheapest package ($15 a month), is now 40 percent to 50 percent cheaper that the home-delivered version and 70 percent cheaper than buying the paper each day at a newsstand. As for the FT, the standard digital version is now 21 percent cheaper than the print subscription and 68 percent less than the newsstand price.
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Of these three factors, the uniqueness of content remains the most potent one. With the inflation of aggregators and of social reading habits, the natural replication of information has turned into an overwhelming flood. Then, the production of specific content—and its protection—becomes a key element in building value. As for price structures, there is no magic formula. Usually, the simpler the better (as Apple demonstrated)—especially for businesses that start from scratch. But, with pre-existing and different audience segments such as an individual and corporate users, pricing decisions become more complicated and a diversified price list can prevent cannibalization. As for the Apple v independent app issue, my personal take is that sleeping with Apple is a quick short-term win, an easier strategy. But, in the long run, the independent way (which, after all, is an article of faith for Apple itself) will yield better results.