Recent statistics show that almost half of smartphone users use their device to get some sort of local news information. This figure is set to bloat as traditional newspapers die out and the smartphone craze continues to take hold. Then there's tablets of course. Not one to miss a trick freedom of speech hater Rupert Murdoch has thrown his subscription newspaper for the iPad (The Daily) into the world. But who's going to pay, who's going to pay for any news? At the moment only 10% of portable news consumers pay anything.
For bog-standard news the free BBC and Sky apps on Android and iPhone are more than capable. Both offer frequently updated articles across various categories (Showbiz, UK, World, Politics etc) videos and images. For more local news, there's the option of following your local newspaper on Twitter. Problem solved.
What exactly would we need to prize money from our hands? Bar business users and journalists who want premium quality news, there just doesn't seem to be anything that could justify a subscription charge. That of course could change when someone comes up with a clever little idea (maybe there's a market for celebrity news and photos for instance?)
But then there's a big problem for subscriptions; adverts. If a news app is popular enough on Android it could make enough via add support.
What do you think? Would you ever pay for news on your phone?
One thought on “Who Will Pay For News On Their Smartphone?”
I can’t see anyone making huge amounts of money from a news app; it’s not necessary. Where there are free apps giving the same information (which can also be accessed via the internet, radio, tv…) not a lot of people are going to pay for it.
People pay for something which offers the, some kind of reward or exclusivity. Unless certain news in only made available to app owners (let’s hope it never comes to that) I can’t see it being a success.