FINANCIAL TIMES TO CHARGE FACTIVA AND OTHER AGGREGATE USERS FEES FOR CONTENT ACCESS
December 20th 2007 23:00
The Financial Times dropped part of its web pay wall in October but now it is erecting a new one through Factiva.
Although the Financial Times’ press release on the subject only mentions Factiva, other users of paid aggregation services like Alacra and LexisNexus and will also have to pay extra for content under the new deal.
On Tuesday the Financial Times issued its press statement announcing an agreement with Factiva to provide access to FT content under a new licensing model.
It said, “From April 2008, any organisation that wishes to have unlimited digital access to FT content will be invited to subscribe to an FT content licence. These licences will ensure simplicity and consistency in the supply of the Financial Times global business news and analysis. The single licence will create a direct relationship between the Financial Times and its corporate customers and enable them to access Financial Times content via both FT.com and a wide range of third party channels. Factiva has agreed to provide access to FT content under this new model.
Caspar de Bono, managing director B2B at the Financial Times, said, “We have created the FT Content Licence to ensure a fair and transparent means of separating the price paid for FT content from the price paid for news aggregations services.
“We think the services provided by news aggregators are excellent and that this is distinct from the value that the FT provides. Corporate customers will now have the benefit of buying a licence for multiple users of FT content that can be used across a variety of technology platforms. We are delighted that Factiva have agreed to provide access to FT content under this new licensing model.”
“The publisher’s October strategy seeks to drive consumers including blog readers to more free articles, now that online advertising is delivering rapidly increasing returns. The flip side of that was always going to be the retention of its commercial subscriber base.
“But the Financial Times is confident its content is valuable enough that people will continue to pay. Forcing customers of third-party aggregators to pay twice to get FT stories, however, (once for the platform, once for the feed) is a rather ballsy demonstration of that confidence.”
Rafat Ali spoke to Karin Borchert, Factiva's vice president for global content and customer operations, and she said she didn’t expect Factiva to feel much of an impact because its customers are different and use it because it provides unfettered access to news material
"If they're a casual user, they might just opt to go straight to FT.com," she said.
While she acknowledged the Financial Times’ US and global presence, she added that "the majority of the interest is in the UK."
- From MediaBlab
| 38 |
| Vote |
subscribe to this blog
