OLD Media Moves

FT raising price again

November 14, 2008

Dominic Ponsford of the Press Gazette in London writes Friday that the Financial Times is raising its newsstand price — at least in England — for the second time this year.

Ponsford writes, “Speaking on the Media Show on Radio 4 this week, Financial Times editor Lionel Barber defended the paper’s price rises.

“He said: ‘The price cutting that took place 10 years ago in the British newspaper market did have some dark consequences. It may have given a brief stimulus to circulation but it didn’t help profitability at all.

“‘We have increased our price steadily since I took over and we’ve seen that circulation hasn’t fallen. We’re offering something which is valuable and we’re going to charge for it.’

“The move will be seen as the latest sign that papers at the quality end of the market are responding to plunging advertising revenue in the current financial downturn by ramping up their cover prices.”

Read more here.

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