Slovak online media subscription meets success
It’s an uncommon headline, but an online news source is boasting promising financial prospects. A Slovak media subscription payment system launched in May announced last week that during its first month it netted over €40,000 in revenue, the largest amount yet earned through publication subscription on the Slovak internet.
As editor Jeremy Druker reported in TOL’s editor blog, the Slovak “Piano” system works similarly to cable in that one payment grants access to multiple channels. A flat fee of €2.90 per month provides subscribers with access to 34 sections and services on 9 internet sites.
If anyone could make the system work, wrote Druker, it was Piano Media’s CEO Tomas Bella.
Well, one month in, it looks like he’s played his part.
“We achieved our subscriber target within two days of launching the system. So it is clear that the common payment system has had only a very small, or no impact on readership,” said Bella, according to a description on Piano Media’s website.
Take note, NYTimes. With online subscriptions appearing to be the hopeful lifesource for faltering news sources, maybe Slovakia’s onto something.
About the Author
-
More from Transitions Online- North Macedonia’s Epidemic of Political DisinformationThe country’s fake news farms cut their teeth promoting Donald Trump’s campaign. Then domestic political interests muscled in. Next in a series on disinformation in the Balkans. […]
- Bulgaria's Pig Problems Lie BuriedFollowing measures to combat African swine fever, a miasma hangs over the country, foreshadowing future calamity. […]
- Pigs and PestilenceA virus tests an old Bulgarian custom and a Balkan social norm. […]
- Divided We Fall … For DisinformationEuropeans divided by domestic interests and “national” approaches to European issues are vulnerable to manipulative messages. […]
- Beware the Creature From the Fake News LagoonA hoax sparks debate on truth and lies in the Montenegrin media. Next in a series on disinformation in the Balkans. A hoax sparks debate on truth and lies in the Montenegrin media. Next in a series on disinformation in the Balkans. […]
- Stateless No More: Kyrgyzstan Shows Central Asia the Path to CitizenshipA practical approach to the problem of statelessness, pioneered in Kyrgyzstan, offers hope across Central Asia. […]
- In the Army We Trust!A “non-military person” is won over by a new type of soldier – a profession Central Europeans have come to respect over the past generation. […]
- Russia's LGBTQ+ Community Reels After Murder of Activist Yelena GrigoryevaThe St Petersburg activist’s name recently appeared on a homophobic hit-list. From Global Voices. […]
- North Macedonia’s Epidemic of Political Disinformation
- Twitter feed loading...
About Us
Net Prophet is a blog supported by Transitions Online tracking new media and tech developments across Central Europe and Eurasia.
Transitions Online is an online magazine that covers political, social, cultural, and economic issues in the former communist countries of Europe and Central Asia. The magazine has a strong network of local contributors, who provide valuable insight into events in the region’s 29 countries.
