Identifying a realistic taxonomy of content providers in the online news sector

1
WHO ARE THE INTERNET CONTENT PROVIDERS?

• Identifying a realistic taxonomy of content
  providers in the online news sector
• Cornelia C. Krueger
• Paula M.C. Swatman

The third IFIP I3E Conference September
21-24, 2003
2
Introduction

• Content providers struggle to find adequate
  revenue
• They are struggling to survive because of
• declining subscriber numbers,
• falling advertising revenue
• A fickle and highly-critical public
• Most newspapers initially went online with a
  business model very like their real-world model
• We suggest a continuum of business model types
  for content provision ranging from pure content
  provision to an extension beyond content to the
  provision of technology

3
The content market value chain

• Research into eBusiness models
• Timmers (1998), Schuster and Weiss (2001) Value
  chain de- and reconstruction
• Rappa (2002) Company identifies its place in
  the value chain
• Picard (2000) Business model includes the
  concept of the value chain
• Parolini (1999), Loss and Scheer (2002) Value
  networks
• Woessner (2001) eBusiness value chain

4
Comparison of business models of content providers
5
Research approach

• Is there a single definition of the term content
  provider, or can a content provider enlarge its
  business model according to its needs
  especially as the Internet itself evolves?
• How do content providers develop their business
  models?
• How do content providers position their company
  in the content value chain?

6
Cases

• Interviews with several stakeholders in the
  online news market
• ddp
• RZ-Online
• FAZ.net
• Publico.pt
• Analysis of Web sites of a number of newspapers
  and magazines
• The Wall Street Journal
• the New York Times
• Il Corriere della Sera
• El Pais
• Analysis of Web sites of some of a new type of
  content provider
• Newsstand
• Tecnavia
• In a Daily

7
Findings from the cases

• Taxonomy of Internet Content Providers

8
Content creator Content creator and buyer

• Content creator
• concentrate on producing content
• E.g. big news agencies or journalists
• Content creator and buyer
• create and buy content to sell through their Web
  presence
• E.g. smaller news agencies which create, for
  example, national, business and cultural news but
  have to buy sports news

9
Content creator, buyer and value adder

• creating, buying and adopting content for their
  customers
• create some of their content in-house, buy
  specialist material to round out their offerings
• cooperates with companies which supply Internet
  access or application services
• E.g. portals, most newspapers and magazines
  (Publico.pt or the Wallstreet Journal).

10
Content creator, buyer, value adder and
technology provider

• purchasing technological infrastructure, finding
  a technology partner or technology provider
  themselves
• or offer their technology platform to other
  newspapers and magazines worldwide
• The NYT has developed a highly successful new
  business model out of technology - Newsstand

11
Newsstand
Source http//www.newsstand.com
12
Effect of technological extension
13
Conclusions

• Two promising types of Internet business models
  for content providers
• creation, acquisition, value-adding and digital
  distribution of content
• software platform network effect
• concentration on core competence, and
• right partners to support this strategy