The press needs one-shot purchase of articles, not subscription

People reach articles through social media, Apple news, Google news. They want to read them. Immediately. They are ready to pay (a little) for this.

They are rarely interested to subscribe 1-year subscriptions. People don’t want to subscribe to more than a few press media. Indeed, they just have a limited time to spend reading the press. Moreover, a lot of press content is overlapping. As a result, the more press media you register to, the less you’ll read them. This is (almost) mathematical.

Still, in most media websites, you cannot buy an article. You can only register for subscriptions. It frustrates users who just immediately want to read what their friends shared on Twitter. 

Worst, press media try to attract people with very discounted offers. 1 dollar for the first 26 weeks in Boston Globe, then 27 dollars/month. 0.75 dollar/week on NYT for a few weeks, then 2 dollars/week. "From 0 euros" on the JDD (Journal du Dimanche), then 7 euros a month.  Lowering the price of your product that much is not a good practice. It kills the value perception. Moreover, people are not stupid, they know the game here is to catch their credit card number to then augment the price.

I can get the press wants recurrence just like Netflix but this is a bad comparison. Netflix offers for a few euros a month an incredible library of content, with more and more exclusive ones. People spend hours watching it per day thanks to never-ending series. 

 Press media is not at all consumed like that. Usually, people read a few articles a day, no more (+ see my mathematical theory about overlapping consumption above). Asking the same amount of money as Netflix (or more) can’t work. 

Let’s now consider the business of mobile games. Few need to be paid. They all make (a lot of) money with in-app micro-purchase. 99 cents, 69 cents. 1,29 euros. It’s one shot. Facial recognition or fingerprint to confirm the payment. Done! I have my 500 000 coins to buy a new FIFA Mobile player.

I really think that’s the model the press should follow.