Paywall pointers: Digital subscription lessons for news outlets

While digital subscriptions may not appeal to every publisher, many news outlets have launched paywalls or more metered-models in recent years as the industry looks for new revenue streams for online journalism.

In this week's podcast we hear from those behind established paywalls at The Times, The New York Times and Piano Media (which operates national paywalls in Slovakia, Slovenia and Poland), to hear about their approaches and pointers for other news outlets considering online pay models.

The podcast hears about the importance of pay model clarity, conversations with the audience, flexibility to alter the pay model or even lift the wall in certain cases and already having a community of loyal readers. The interviewees also highlight the importance of considering models based on your own content and audience, rather than trying to find a one-size-fits-all solution.

We speak to:

• Lucia Adams, digital development editor, the Times
• Jim Roberts, assistant managing editor, The New York Times
• Tomas Bella, chief executive, Piano Media

Some related reading on relatively recent paywall news:

• Telegraph launches metered paywall outside UK
• Times and Sunday Times to pull down paywall for Jubilee
• New York Times to cut free online article allowance by half
• Piano paywall in Slovakia increases subscriber content
• New York Times lifts paywall for Hurricane Sandy

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