Paywalls are Vital to Financial Future of Publishing Industry say Leading Executives

In a recent poll conducted by MPP Global, over three-quarters of key global figures from the publishing industry felt that digital paywalls were the long term answer to the financial future of the publishing industry in the face of continually falling print revenues.

These findings echo the growing shift within the publishing industry towards digital-only publications with Newsweek announcing only last week that from the end of the year their 80-year print history will come to an end.

The survey, conducted over two online webinars hosted by MPP Global which examined the challenges and opportunities publishing companies face when choosing to implement a paywall, prompted 77% of respondents to agree that paywalls were ‘very important’ to the financial future of the industry as a whole.

MPP Global, the leading provider of Payment Services and eCommerce Solutions to the media and entertainment industries, are well positioned to examine the rise and rise of the paywall phenomenon having delivered the highly successful paywall solutions for The Times newspaper in the UK, together which other high profile online payment services such as Philips Smart-TV services, Norway’s Dagbladet and NOW-TV for BSkyB.

Paul Johnson, Chief Executive Officer for MPP Global, said: “What this result signals is that key figures in the publishing sector are truly starting to acknowledge just how important the subject of digital content monetisation through paywalls is to the future of the industry.”

Newsweek’s print circulation has dropped 51% in the last five years and 80% less advertising space in the same time.

Paul added: “Declining print sales due to a proliferation of widely-available online content has led to a dramatic fall in advertising revenues and as a result the print presses are delivering huge losses for publishers.

“Planning now for the digital-only future and the best strategies for monetising content is absolutely vital to the long term future of the publishing industry, and you only have to look to the New York Times and The Times in the UK to see how paywalls can be successfully delivered.”

For more information on MPP Global and how they enable publishers to monetize digital content visit mppglobal.com