Content Pays...Finally

Content Pays...Finally

TechTransform, October 7, 2002: Everything we claimed five years ago was true, and now you can make money from content!

Today I heard from Jason McCabe Calacanis, who is putting on the Content Management Summit.

He acknowledges that it's been tough for the last couple of years. But he says that's all gone now - if you know what to do.

Jason says:

"Finally, after five years of free, people are beginning to understand that online, as in the real world, you get what you pay for and they are taking out their credit cards. U.S. consumers spent $675 million on paid online content last year, a 92 percent increase over 2000 spending levels, according to Online Publishers Association, and that figure is expected to increase exponentially this year. Look at these success stories:

New York Times Digital has been steadily increasing its paid content services over the last year, and registered a 16 percent increase in its total revenues for the latest quarter.

TheStreet.com brought over $3 million in subscriptions last quarter, an increase of almost 50 percent over the year-ago quarter.

ConsumerReports.com will reach over a million paying subscribers by the end of this year.

RealNetworks' consumer multi-media subscription service has more than 750,000 subscribers, bringing in $17.8 million in the last quarter.

The Wall Street Journal Online added over 6,000 new paying customers last quarter, bringing its subscriber base to 646,000.

FT.com has signed up 17,000 subscribers in three months since it launched its premium site in May.

Check out Jason's pitch at http://www.cmsummit.com/. That summit's worth attending if you're in content.

The thing I notice about this list is that they are all existing players. They have leveraged their heavy installed bases (and investment) and are now making money. But how to launch now and make money?

I'd love to hear your thoughts.