As some news outlets continue to weigh the pros and cons of paid-for content and others ease into paywall territory (The New York Times just launched its paywall), a new study finds that Canadians are still largely unwilling to pay for online news content.
Survey by: Canadian Media Research Consortium (CMRC) and Vision Critical
Methodology: Internet survey of 1,682 Canadian adults
Key Findings:
• 92% of Canadians who get news online say they would find another free site if their favourite news sites started charging for content.
• 81% of those surveyed say they will not pay to continue to read their favourite online news site, 4% are willing to pay and 15% are unsure.
• 28% say charges are most acceptable for breaking news, followed by hard news (22%), international news (19%) and feature and analytical news (16%).
• As for payment models, 34% prefer a flat-fee subscription, 20% favor pay as you go, 6% rather a per-day charge, 4% have a preference for per-article fee, while 7% prefer to purchase a news app for their mobile device.
• 82% are prepared to accept advertising if the news content is free, while 9% are against it, and the remaining 9% are unsure.
• 58% are not ready to share personal data as a way of “mitigating costs,” 19% are “willing to cooperate,” and 23% are not yet certain.
To download the survey findings from CMRC, click here.
