FT facing uncertain future, more competition

Christopher Williams of The Telegraph writes about the future of The Financial Times due to shifting consumer needs.

Williams writes, “But there are also downsides to this embrace of a business to business subscription model, as opposed to one reliant on consumers and end-users footing the bill.

“Together with this shift to a more global audience, it has meant the FT is now more directly competing with the giants of financial information: Bloomberg, Thomson Reuters and Dow Jones, the Rupert Murdoch-controlled company behind the Wall Street Journal.

“Such rivals have been focused on their corporate subscribers for longer than the Financial Times, and have the firepower to compete on the editorial front. These corporate-focused models are seen as more cyclical than consumer-driven ones: subscriptions are just one of many business costs that can be chopped during downturns.

“‘The FT is undoubtedly facing more competition,’ says McCabe. ‘There is a lot of investment going into content and particularly financial and business content from people like Bloomberg.’

“Bloomberg is investing heavily in areas the FT would once have considered its exclusive territory. Backed by the cash produced by its trading information terminals, the US company has been hiring aggressively, producing more in-depth features on business trends and assigning reporters to long-term investigations.”

Read more here.