– The Trinity Mirror group is making some waves in digital content. Yesterday it announced it would be taking on Max Alexander (formerly chief executive of Thomson (NYSE: TOC)Directories), as its new managing director of new ventures and strategy. And the publisher this week has also said that its ultra-local digital news trial, which we reported on back in September, will now be replicated on a nationwide basis. The online service has been piloted in the northeast of England, with 20 sites overing 23 postcodes, using a cadre of citizen journalists working alongside Trinity Mirror (LSE: TNI) staff. The sites are a hit with advertisers and have, contrary to the overall trend in newsprint, spawned a series of physical publications. Neil Benson, Trinity Mirror editorial director for regionals, quoted in NMA: “We are looking at a roll-out beyond Teesside. It works on an editorial and commercial level.” (link to Alexander announcement)
— Meanwhile, Racing Post, which Trinity Mirror sold this week to private equity concern FL Partners for £170 million ($346 milllion), is planning to invest £10 million ($20.3 million) to ramp up its online presence with new premium areas of audio and video content and a relaunched online betting shop. Chief executive Alan Byrne (via NMA): “We are developing a premium service that is used for a very specific purpose and we will be investigating which services users will pay for.”
— FL Partners might take a lesson in premium content from Discovery Networks International. The pay-TV broadcaster has said it is changing the charging model for its broadband content portal in the UK to exclusively pay-as-you-go after it concluded the UK market was more comfortable with an iTunes-style a la carte system. Discovery on Demand currently offers users the option of either buying a monthly subscription for the site, to access unlimited content for £3.50 ($7.12), or £35 a year ($71.18), or charging on an a la carte basis. Now the site will be a la carte only, and it’s reducing charges to 99p ($2) from £1.49 ($3). (via NMA)
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