FT: Digital subs could pass print by the end of the year

The Financial Times could have more digital subscribers than it sells print copies by the end of the year, FT.com‘s managing director Rob Grimshaw predicted this week during an on-stage interview with NewsCred‘s CEO Shafqat Islam as part of the Internet Week New York.

Anna Heim of TheNextWeb.com writes, “According to Grimshaw, who has been heading the newspaper’s digital operations for the last four years, the FT currently has a whopping 270,000 online subscribers – almost as high as its 310,000 print copy circulation, which it may soon exceed. As we previously reported, the FT’s digital subscription revenue is also on course to overtake its ad income in 2012.

“So how did the FT manage to build such a solid digital user base and to monetize it? It all comes down to swimming against the tide. Not only did the newspaper venture earlier than others into online content, but it also took a bold approach by betting on subscriptions, rather than free content. ‘In a world where advertising won’t pay the bills, you have to try other things,’ Grimshaw said.

“On the other hand, its decision to go for quality over quantity helped it build an online product that readers are willing to pay for. As a matter of fact, its total paying audience is now bigger than it has ever been, Grimshaw pointed out.”

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