While online distribution platforms have reduced the publishing barrier, many people often fail to realize that content is still very expensive to produce.
This week, in an interview with Sky News (Australia), Ruport Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of News Corp., clearly stated that he’d rather have fewer people that pay for content than more people that they have to monetize via advertising.
I’ve mentioned this a few times over the past year and it comes down to one question — is there enough advertising to support every web venture? Unfortunately, no. While the overall cost of content production and distribution has declined, advertising revenue alone is insufficient to sustain exponential grown.
However, you can create enough niche properties that reach targeted markets in a way that each visitor would be willing to pay a nominal fee. Another critical factor is competition. If a particular media outlet offers similar content for free, why would a consumer pay another outlet?
