The D&C announced a big change last week. It rolled out a new subscription model that lumps daily paper delivery with access to its online content. The package will cost $26.50 a month – several more dollars than many are now paying for their paper. The price will be $23.50 if you sign up for EZ-Pay.
Asked about the change, D&C’s Director of Marketing Dennis Floss wrote this:
The letters which went out to subscribers this week are intended to communicate a change in our subscription model which goes beyond a change in pricing. Specifically, we are charging based on the value of the content we provide, not a specific manner of delivery (be it printed or digital).
We simply don't write local stories just for print anymore ... our journalists are writing, posting, shooting video, editing, updating and interacting on multiple platforms, all day long. It's something we must do to survive long term. Our costs are wrapped up in that one story and one person (in multiples) plus support and distribution costs. Silo pricing is impractical as multi-media is interwoven through all we do.
The D&C will charge for full access in one package price, not unlike paying for cable tv, phone service, or a new car. Inherent in our pricing is the multi-media facets of our local content, based on efficiencies of how content is gathered and disseminated. If we charged for the paper in proportional ratios to our actual costs to produce and deliver it, consumer costs would be higher for print. We think the new packaging of options evens pricing out fairly among all subscribers and now for the first time, web users as well. Yes, we will have a range of subscriptions options available, with price based on newspaper delivery frequency. All subscriptions options include digital access. As to the second part of your question, newspaper subscriptions will be honored at their current rates until expiration.
Over the phone Floss told me more specific details are forthcoming. For those wondering whether there will be a separate, cheaper subscription just for online content, there’s no official word, but I’d bet on it.
Adam Chodak, Anchor
