The accelerating moves in Australian business media have thrown up another shift. From BS today:
I’m writing to let you know that from next week, a little more than six years after we launched, Business Spectator starts a new era.
It will be a time of growth and opportunity and we’re really excited about it, but we’ll no longer be entirely free – just mostly free, so you’ll need to subscribe to access premium content.
Moving to a subscription service will allow us to not only continue to provide the high quality business news and insights you’ve come to expect, but also to give you access to the best of the global News Corporation network – including The Australian and content from The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones.
More importantly it will allow us to invest in Business Spectator in a way we’ve never been able to before now. In the coming months we’ll be launching a new home page, compelling new video content, enhanced markets data, improved newsletters and a range of new subscriber features.
A subscription to Business Spectator will give you unlimited access to the KGB (me, Robert Gottliebsen and Stephen Bartholomeusz) and our DataRoom M&A service, plus unlimited access to The Australian’s website and edition-based iPad application, including all of its great columnists like Paul Kelly, John Durie and Peter van Onselen, as well as exclusive content from the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones, all for the same price, with one single login.
None of that is worth paying for so far I can tell so I’m not sure where the bigger investment is going to come from to improve everything else, especially as advertising falls.
