A recent chart by Silicon Alley Insider’s Chart of the Day suggests that 74% of a news web site’s users would “find another free site” if their favourite news site suddenly began charging. Only 5% of the survey’s respondents said that they would pay to continue reading.

I don’t believe that this would be the case.

Rupert Murdoch plans to charge for access to all of the News Corp online news and entertainment content. When he does so, News Corp are undoubtedly going to lose a lot of subscribers, but I’m guessing that they’re working on creating and providing additional content for their subscribers between now and then.

If Murdoch switches off free access, and asks for people to pay for what they’re already receiving for free, I’d expect more than 74% to walk away. If, however, they were to offer all visitors a free three month subscription, and during this time convince them (a) the additional new content is of interest and (b) the cost of being able to access it is reasonable, I’m guessing that their walk-away rate would drop dramatically.

And what do you think will happen when other news providers see the Murdoch plan work? Will the majority continue to provide their content for free, or will they start earning revenue for themselves?

Asking people whether they’d be happy to pay for something they already receive for free is meaningless.

Adding value, then offering access for a reasonable fee, is something else entirely.

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