Emap Inform Re-Erecting Pay Wall, Laying Off 35
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How fast times change. It was only last November when B2B publisher Emap Inform said it would make free the two thirds of its titles that were behind a pay wall (see our post). Now it says it’s raising the wall again. Titles include Broadcast, Nursing Week Times and Retail Times Week.
SEE ALSO: Emap’s B2B Sites Knock Down Pay Walls, Place Their Bets On Ad-Funded
CEO Simon Middelboe tells Press Gazette: “I think we will be moving away from free content towards having paywalls on all of our print subscription titles over the next few months. There will still be free-to-view content but not anything like as much now.” They’re adding subscription features to their content management system right now in time for an autumn launch.
The unit is also cutting 35 staff. Emap CEO Dave Gilbertson (via PG): “Areas of our business have come under pressure due to the impact of recession on print advertising, and we need to take action now to address this as part of a wider divisional reorganisation ... We also need to make sure our publishing business is in the right shape for the future, which will see us delivering paid-for content across a range of different platforms.”
It’s a marker of how fast the downturn has been that the group’s strategy has turned within seven months. But as the ad market has gone in to freefall, the re-ignition of the paid-content debate has elucidated on key belief - professional readers will pay for unique, quality content.
Disclosure: Our publisher ContentNext is a wholly owned subsidiary of Guardian News & Media, whose parent Guardian Media Group jointly owns Emap with Apax.
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