Tag Archives: Financial Times
FT taking readers away from WSJ in Europe
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Paul McNally of the Press Gazette in London reports that a recent survey shows that the Financial Times is taking readers away from rivals Wall Street Journal and the International Herald Tribune in Europe.
McNally writes, “The Financial Times was the most-read international business newspaper with 14.3 per cent of respondents claiming to read it regularly — up from 13.1 per cent when the survey was last conducted in 2006.
“The number of business leaders visiting the FT.com website rose from 9.2 per cent to 10.3 per cent since 2006. The site’s audience was half that of BBC.co.uk, which recorded a reach of 20.8 per cent compared with 17.6 per cent two years ago.
“Readership of the Wall Street Journal Europe, which was bought by Rupert Murdoch as part of his purchase of Dow Jones last year, fell from 2.8 per cent to 2.4 per cent. The International Herald Tribune, the international edition of the New York Times, lost a third of its readership – down from 2.5 per cent to 1.8 per cent.”
Read more here.
Financial Times sees boom in readers due to economic crisis
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Robert MacMillan of Reuters reports that The Financial Times has seen an increase in print subscribers and online readers in the past month as the economic crisis speads worldwide.
MacMillan met recently with FT CEO John Ridding.
MacMillan writes, “Here’s evidence, some of which Ridding gave me when we had breakfast at Michael’s last week:
- Newsstand sales rose 30 percent in the United States in September, and about 20 percent in Europe and Asia. That’s compared to August 2008, i.e., it’s a “sequential� gain rather than year-over-year growth. In the United Kingdom, Ridding said, “We basically couldn’t print enough copies and retailers were running out.�
- The number of registered users of FT.com rose to 750,000 now, compared with 30,000 a year ago. Some of this growth of course, came from pulling back the curtain last November. But Ridding said a couple hundred thousand of those showed up in the past few months, as the mortgage and housing crisis in the United States deepened and then metastasized into full-blown world-market-crisis mode. (Here’s how registration and subscription works at FT.com)
- During one week, Ridding noted, page views hit 25 million, more than double the normal amount. Ridding’s conclusion: “What [the crisis] is doing for our readership and audience is pretty remarkable. I think it really underlines this idea that at a time of turmoil, people really do need trusted guides, and are prepared to pay.â€? (The Journal, if anyone’s wondering, logged 21.7 million visitors at its website, up 110 percent from last year. It’s hard to tell whether the figure is comparable.)”
Read more here.
Financial Times will break some stories using video
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Laura Oliver of Journalism.co.uk writes that the Financial Times plans to break more news on its Web site using video.
Oliver writes, “FT.com correspondents have been experimenting with small cameras to shoot their own news videos, said Edgar, adding that Reuters’ use of video experts to cover events such as the World Economics Forum in Davos earlier this year was an inspirational model.
“But, he said, technological changes are required to get more breaking news video on FT.com.
“‘We could improve the workflow that we’ve got at the moment, in order to turn things around more quickly. I think that’s one of the key things, because it’s one of the big delays. Once you’ve got the video, there’s quite a delay before its goes online,’ he told Journalism.co.uk.
“‘We’re beginning to see that some of the technically savvy correspondents are asking us for small cameras that they can take with them. At the moment it’s more for [producing] packages, so it’s not under time pressure, but that is one way that I think you would be able to turn material round.’”
Read more here.
The Financial Times still holds big scoops for print
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Patrick Smith of the Press Gazette visited the Financial Times, along with other bloggers and journalists, to get a better understanding of how the business newspaper works, and talked to FT.com editor James Montgomery.
Smith writes, “I asked whether FT.com was the pre-eminent place to break news for FT journalists and whether web-first was the strategy for the paper’s many bureaux around the world. Not always, said Montgomery.
“‘It’s not a black and white issue. In print there is the issue of a print edition coming out somewhere in the world [the FT is printed in 23 countries]. It’s not like we have just one release time in print,’ he says.
“‘In the UK we do sometimes hold things back for print because we don’t want out competitors finding something out, we do pay attention to competition. But, sometimes it pays to break a story online.’
“In any case, even the biggest scoops, of which the FT has had many in recent months, find their way online by the early morning as the newspaper begins to hit the streets.”
Read more here.
Glued to CNBC
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Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson of the Financial Times writes Tuesday about CNBC’s recent coverage of the economic upheaval in the States.
Edgecliffe-Johnson writes, “In an age when online bloggers are supposed to have increasing sway over the news agenda, the credit crisis has instead seen Wall Street and City traders and executives glued to cable television.
“A string of exclusives from CNBC has included interviews with Barack Obama and John McCain, arranged hastily as both candidates saw the economy dominate the presidential campaign.
“CNBC’s screens, which at times featured eight talking heads all trying to be heard at once, also captured the confusion of the week.
“On Tuesday last week, after Mr Gasparino reported that federal money was ‘on the table’ for American International Group, his colleague David Faber went on air saying that a private sector solution had failed but he could not confirm the bail-out report. AIG’s shares see-sawed wildly on the day. Similarly, CNBC at first reported that China’s Citic Group –- rather than China Investment Corp, or CIC –- might invest in Morgan Stanley.”
Read more here.
Big increase in FT.com page views, visits
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Robert Andrews of PaidContent writes that the Financial Times site has seen a huge increase in page views and visits this week.
Andrews writes, “FT.com, for example, saw take-up of its premium subscriptions this week three times higher than normal (whatever that is). MD Rob Grimshaw (via J.co.uk) said FT.com page views were up 300 percent and unique users up 250 percent compared to last year, with double the normal rate of free registrations.
“Still, that ‘normal number of (weekly) subscriptions’ may not be a big baseline. Despite enticing readers with more free articles when it unveiled a new access model in November, as of July the number of paying subscribers was largely unchanged at around 100,000. Also, much of this week’s traffic increase, which is year-on-year, can be accounted for in the general audience hike FT.com has seen over the last year – up 32.9 percent annually as of March.
“Still, Grimshaw said one of the biggest financial news days in the last half-century brought it ‘an explosion’, with the Alphaville live markets blog also shifting plenty of bits. Don’t worry if FT.com isn’t adding subs at a rate of knots – the news site has not one business model, but many, each tailored for a particular kind of user.”
Read more here.
Online strategy for the Financial Times
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Rob Grimshaw of the Financial Times discussed the newspaper’s online strategy at a recent conference and emphasized the need to pay for content access, writes Laura Oliver at journalism.co.uk.
Oliver writes, “‘There seems to be a pervading view that there must be purity in business models on the web. That it must be all paid for, or all free and advertising driven. If we want to move forward on the internet we need to find a way to do the two things together,’ said Grimshaw.
“‘There’s a lot of innovation to come on the web, in particular how we price our audiences and our content. The right for us to charge for our content is absolutely key.’
“Although the new FT access model has led to a higher number of free registered users than paying subscribers, Grimshaw said revenue had been gained from advertising to these non-paying users.”
Read more here.
FT hires media reporters from Reuters
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Reuters media reporter Kenneth Li is leaving the wire service to join the Financial Times, according to a story on the FT web site.
The story stated, “In his new role, Li will cover US content and distribution companies, from broadcasters to cable platforms.
“Andrew Edgecliffe-Johnson, media editor of the Financial Times, commented, ‘Few media reporters are more respected and trusted than Ken, by readers and contacts alike. He brings a deep understanding of the fast-changing global media and communications industries and a remarkable record of getting the story first, getting it right, and explaining what it means with flair and insight. His appointment underscores the FT’s commitment to producing the most competitive and sophisticated coverage of these industries, in print and online. We are delighted that he is joining us.’
“Recognized as an authority on the media business, Li is a frequent participant in industry forums, including I Want Media’s panel on the Future of Media during Internet Week New York 2008.”
Read more here.
Financial Times joins Kindle
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The Financial Times will now be available on Amazon.com’s Kindle, according to an Editor & Publisher item.
Rival The Wall Street Journal, as well as the business sections of newspapers such as the New York Times and the Washington Post, are already available on Kindle, as are numerous business news related blogs.
The E&P item stated, “Readers can access the FT for 75 cents per issue or $9.99 per month.
“‘We are delighted to have signed this deal with Amazon to provide our content through Kindle,’ Greg Zorthian, global circulation director at the FT, said in a statement. ‘We see the digital distribution of the newspaper as a vital part of our strategy and its crucial that we offer customers the flexibility to access our award winning journalism through as many channels as possible.’”
Read more here.
New business news aggregate site launched
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Ivy Schmerken of Wall Street & Technology writes about a new Web site called Streetread that aggregates business news from more than 20 sites, including Forbes, BusinessWeek, The Wall Street Journal and Reuters.
Schmerken writes, “The site was ‘born out of the daily frustrations of trying to stay up to date with all the important news headlines that surround Wall Street and the rest of the financial world,’ writes Mike Stefanello, the young developer who is the sole owner of the site. Stefanello singlehandedly, designed, developed and launched Streetread.com in mid-June based on the idea that he could simplify the efforts that people go through in their daily activities to keep up with Wall Street news and stock prices.
“‘The site is much more innovative, convenient and easier to use than the typical, and quite boring, Yahoo and Google Finance,’ writes Stefanello in an email. He asked me to share news of the site with our readers.
“It’s fairly easy to click on the various news sites that are available and change the order in which they appear. They range from Barron’s, BusinessWeek and CNBC.com to FT.com, Forbes, Fox Business, Google Finance, Minyanville, Morningstar, Seeking Alpha, The Street.com, The Wall Street Journal and Yahoo Finance.com. Stefanello also writes a blog on the site sharing thoughts on which features he plans to add and charting his progress. One thing he’s doing is adding more unusual blogs like AOL’s BloggingStocks.”
Read more here.
