In January 2018, we took a calculated risk by purchasing membership to Wall Street Journal Online for each BizNews Premium subscriber. At the time our thinking was logical. WSJ.com is an awesome product then retailing at $26 a month. Included within BN Premium price of roughly $6 a month would surely make it irresistible for our tribe.
Things haven’t worked out that way. What we believed was a carrot hasn’t been. Less than one in ten of our subscribers signed up for WSJ.com. Our contract requires payment for every single one of our members. So we have been paying WSJ fees for the 90% of BN Premium members who never used the service.
After the WSJ subscription, VAT, bank charges and currency translations, there is precious little left from the R120 a month our members pay for BN Premium. Which means less to reinvest into the product. Efficient allocation of resources demands that we not renew our long term contract which expires at the end of October. Which ends free access to WSJ.com through BN Premium.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___Interestingly, WSJ also has a much more aggressive approach to subscriber growth nowadays. Ask Google and you’ll quickly be able to access “specials” – usually at deep discounts to the price we have been paying on your behalf. In anticipation of the change, for some time now BN Premium has become the core focus for both myself and executive producer Lucy Ferreira.
I trust you’ve noticed the early results via this daily newsletter and our new weekly Premium Podcast. We have also signed up with Bloomberg, which has a large SA presence. Lucy and I are committed to making Premium an indispensable service for you, because your support is indispensable for BizNews. Thank you for continuing to sustain our independent voice.
More for you to read today:
- Annual Reports reveal more failing SOEs – DKB. DA MP says it is truly shocking to see staggering amount of money the public has paid over years for SOEs which continue to fail.
- Markets Break When Interest Rates Rise Fast: Here Are the Cracks. Turmoil in Britain exposes potential risks facing pensions and government bond markets, longtime havens in periods of financial upheaval.
- Carl Icahn, Others Clean Up on Musk’s Twitter About-Face. Activist investor had Twitter stake worth well over $500 million before Tuesday, sources say.
- Shorting Is All the Rage for Retail Investors as Stocks Plunge. After a brutal few months, small-time traders have been trying to recoup losses by betting against the market.
After September’s near double digit average drop in stock prices around the world (including the JSE which lost 9% in Dollar terms), investors are justifiably nervous as the fourth quarter of 2022 begins. Corion’s David Bacher, however, offers some positive suggestions – specifically on South African financial and resources shares which he reckons offer value, especially relative to offshore alternatives. A realist, Bacher remains cautious about local economic prospects, but says valuations are just so low that avoiding these stocks would be a mistake. On the other hand, he is staying away from offshore stocks, especially in the US, where the Bear’s Grip is tightening. He spoke to Alec Hogg of BizNews.com
NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS…
As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal’s credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner’s website via BizNews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you’ll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our helpdesk can assist –[email protected].
