The Wicked Cricket Column

Any publication that has the courage to create a paywall on their website and charge people to read an article is brave. No surprise then that Rupert Murdoch was one of the first via The Times newspaper, yet readership figures are hard to find and never been disclosed. For how many exactly have signed up? Other papers like The Telegraph followed suit, whilst The Guardian seek donations from readers to keep their heads above financial waters. The Daily Mail, on the other hand, offer a completely FREE website and over time have attracted the biggest number of unique users and daily page views (11.2m) of any publication in the Western world. Today, their online advertising cup revenue 'overfloweth'.



A further way is to keep a majority of the site open and FREE, but charge for particular more unique features. So when The Cricketer Magazine followed this path several years ago, I applauded them for their courage. How this has gone is anyone's guess as again financial figures and reader numbers are a closely kept secret.

So, here is a good example. An interview with 'luvvie' cricket enthusiast Stephen Fry. The cost of reading it (described as a 'Premium Feature) is 30p or £1.80 per week to read as many pay-to-view articles on the site as you want (presently 10 are on offer). Would you pay this? The sum is peanuts, so what is stopping you? 

For this approach to work, surely, you need to choose the right subject. A world exclusive is the obvious, although once a person pays for an article what stops them from tweeting about it around the world? An unique piece of news will last as long as you can say, "....!"

Fry is a typical left-wing liberal, but after Ricky Gervais and his recent Hollywood antics at the film 'Globe Awards' where, as MC, he harangued the elites for their hypocrisy and 'me-too' virtue-signalling and immediately gained an additional 300,000 Twitter followers in support on the back of it, entertainers are not exactly flavour of the month. What doesn't help Fry's corner is that he married a man, Elliott Spencer, 30 years his junior in 2015 (Fry: 57 - Spencer: 27) which for many, while not in any way against same sex marriage, were a little perturbed by the age gap.



Meanwhile, Fry is against the growing and alarming rise of political correctness, a keen supporter of Norwich FC, but above all is an enthusiastic cricket supporter once describing Test matches like a "5 course gourmet meal". So, back to the Cricketer Magazine interview. How many times have we read or heard Fry eulogising about the sport of sports? How many times has he been interviewed by Aggers on TMS? Would I pay 30p to read this latest interview? Will there be information or facts about Fry I've not read before? 

Of course I would, but to persuade people to change their habits from the present internet and social media trumpet call of "Everything is FREE, Roll up, Roll up", choosing the right subject must be taken with great care, where the constant changing of fickle public tastes are increasingly a factor.

Not forgetting the magazine itself. At just 30p, you require a minimum of 1,000 paid readers to make the exercise worthwhile, otherwise how else can they pay for editor, Simon Hughes, fetish for Greggs sausage rolls. 

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