Cyclingnews website limited access….thanks future group

[Headshot]

Its the way many if not all online news and hobby/sports sites will go I think. Pinkbike has been bought by Outside and they are punting their Outside + membership at every turn. They "say" that Pinkbike will remain free but they keep posting links to Outside+ restricted articles and adding shameless punts for Outside+ in their video reviews. 

At some point you'll find that your expensive DSTV now looks cheap as you've subscribed to Cyclingnews.com, Outside+, GCN+, Netflix, Disney and Showmax and possibly Discovery to watch the MTB World Cup. 

[pedal menace]

17 minutes ago, alleyne said:

When you reach the free article limit, just open the next article in incognito mode  

Good Golly that worked! Tx!

 

[Frosty]

3 hours ago, SwissVan said:

RANT ON:

As a long term cyclingnews reader I’m somewhat dismayed and disappointed that they (cycling news are part of Future group) are now pushing readers to pay (subscribe) to read news articles, in particular race news. 

 

Future Group bought back the print media rights from Immediate Media Company in 2019. Perhaps covid delayed the inevitable, as they were hinting at having a paywall for some time.

[Eldron]

Damn those scoundrels making you pay for stuff!

Journalists should starve to provide us with free content!

Let's hope people in all the nay sayers industry don't decide they want your skills for free....

 

[Sid the Sloth]

3 minutes ago, Eldron said:

Damn those scoundrels making you pay for stuff!

Journalists should starve to provide us with free content!

Let's hope people in all the nay sayers industry don't decide they want your skills for free....

 

I suppose it is just a different structure where instead of relying on ad revenue they now want income from readers. Capitalism and economics would probably predict a rival news site to gain popularity as users no longer want to pay the higher price

[Shebeen]

4 hours ago, lechatnoir said:

Been peeved about this too, but will happily argue both sides. We all like free stuff, but somewhere along the line, it has to be paid for. No free lunches and all that. still, have a negative buzz towards cyclingnews though

 

2 hours ago, alleyne said:

When you reach the free article limit, just open the next article in incognito mode  

https://github.com/iamadamdev/bypass-paywalls-chrome/blob/master/README.md

 

this is an extension i have works for quite a few places (not sure about cyclingnews and definitely not news24 tough)

[Eldron]

1 minute ago, Sid the Sloth said:

I suppose it is just a different structure where instead of relying on ad revenue they now want income from readers. Capitalism and economics would probably predict a rival news site to gain popularity as users no longer want to pay the higher price

I would guess ad revenue has dropped steadily over the last few years - there are millions of platforms for advertisers to use these days. My guess is that they're trying to make up the loss/difference in sub fees.

That said I have no experience in this field at all - is there anyone from the industry that has a batter idea?  @Matt  @Danger Dassie

 

 

[PregoRoll]

its not like they are running an Ad free webpage either, most days I cant tell the difference between an article and an Ad

[Sid the Sloth]

15 minutes ago, Eldron said:

I would guess ad revenue has dropped steadily over the last few years - there are millions of platforms for advertisers to use these days. My guess is that they're trying to make up the loss/difference in sub fees.

That said I have no experience in this field at all - is there anyone from the industry that has a batter idea?  @Matt  @Danger Dassie

 

 

Also many of us use ad blockers.

[SwissVan]

42 minutes ago, Eldron said:

Damn those scoundrels making you pay for stuff!

Journalists should starve to provide us with free content!

Let's hope people in all the nay sayers industry don't decide they want your skills for free....

 

When i read articles on cyclingnews mostly from my iPad mini, 1/3 to 1/2 the screen is adverts. While it’s annoying, I understand they (need to ) generate some income from adverts and will live with these on any website I visit, but being forced to subscribe is going to far imo. 
Quote from cyclingnews: “We are supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission”

If every website or news site I visit on a regular basis decided to go the subscriber route, then the total cost would not be practical. 
 

Following this thread the majority of responders so far indicate they would not subscribe, assuming the global response would follow the same trend, I wonder if cyclingnews/ future group have a long term future should they continue down this road?

I’d be interested to know if the adverts are still as annoying if you subscribe……  I’ll wager they are

 

 

Edited April 25, 2022 by SwissVan

[Jewbacca]

I want the best coverage, articles, commentary etc but it must be free!

I love cycling so much, I love reading about cycling and I expect everything I touch to be top notch but if they expect me to pay for it then they are obviously stupid/trying to scam me/looking for a piece of a pie they are definitely not entitled to, despite the fact that so many people go there first thing......

I mean, don't get me started on how I will have to pay for XCO/CX/DH coverage now that Red Bull have decided it was too much to keep giving it away. How dare they!

FREE!

[Shebeen]

25 minutes ago, SwissVan said:

When i read articles on cyclingnews mostly from my iPad mini, 1/3 to 1/2 the screen is adverts. While it’s annoying, I understand they (need to ) generate some income from adverts and will live with these on any website I visit, but being forced to subscribe is going to far imo. 
Quote from cyclingnews: “We are supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission”

If every website or news site I visit on a regular basis decided to go the subscriber route, then the total cost would not be practical. 
 

Following this thread the majority of responders so far indicate they would not subscribe, assuming the global response would follow the same trend, I wonder if cyclingnews/ future group have a long term future should they continue down this road?

I’d be interested to know if the adverts are still as annoying if you subscribe……  I’ll wager they are

 

10 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

I want the best coverage, articles, commentary etc but it must be free!

I love cycling so much, I love reading about cycling and I expect everything I touch to be top notch but if they expect me to pay for it then they are obviously stupid/trying to scam me/looking for a piece of a pie they are definitely not entitled to, despite the fact that so many people go there first thing......

I mean, don't get me started on how I will have to pay for XCO/CX/DH coverage now that Red Bull have decided it was too much to keep giving it away. How dare they!

FREE!

I think it's more the middle ground here.

When you have read/supported a website over a significant period of time you have both freeloaded and yet also provided subscriber eyeballs to their advertising revenue. It's not just a give and take relationship.

Just switching to a paid/freemium model is going to alienate a lot of long term freeloading supporters. In my experience it just happened and came across as a finance exec run thing, and they are betting on their long term readers being loyal when it comes to moving from freeloading to shelling out ca$h.

I don't think I'm going to have the bandwidth to pay for any online cycling journalism/news outfit, but if it had to be one it looks like cyclingtips would be it. They seem to be going for creating quality content and letting the others with their more immediate stuff go for a race to the bottom. 

 

I am not sure why but I've chosen to be a paid subscriber to daily maverick (and this here le hub), and i occasionaly BuymeaCoffee some freelancers -  news24 can go look somewhere else with their premium content offering. If i can't explain my choices to myself then good luck to the experts trying to work out their models and pricing!

 

 

[Danger Dassie]

1 hour ago, Sid the Sloth said:

I suppose it is just a different structure where instead of relying on ad revenue they now want income from readers. Capitalism and economics would probably predict a rival news site to gain popularity as users no longer want to pay the higher price

Ad models of past years is broken. Capitalism and economics demand (to repeat) that nothing is free, and nothing costs as much free.
The "rival news site" is the same old recycled nonsense everytime the paywall topic raises it's head. Fact, it doesn't last, it never ever does. Because it doesn't hold value. 
Plenty of ignorant newbies out there who think otherwise, but then once they actually try to run a content platform. Reality drops in.

'media' is a bloody expansive term, it covers dozens of different professions and industries.
For editorial, across platforms. Content marketing, paywalls, ads are always going to be revenue model in varying iteration make ups.
News media is a different beast altogether. 

[Danger Dassie]

Go into your local workshop every day and ask to use their tools. Eventually you'll be told to pay a usage fee of sorts. Or to just FRO. 

[Shebeen]

4 hours ago, Headshot said:

Its the way many if not all online news and hobby/sports sites will go I think. Pinkbike has been bought by Outside and they are punting their Outside + membership at every turn. They "say" that Pinkbike will remain free but they keep posting links to Outside+ restricted articles and adding shameless punts for Outside+ in their video reviews. 

 

Outside+ ($99 per year) offers exclusive access to stories and perks from our sister publications and brands, like Backpacker, Climbing, VeloNews, Outside TV, Warren Miller, and Yoga Journal. In addition to members-only content, you’ll receive event entries, training plans, recipes, books, a personalized story feed, and interactive experiences with editors, pro athletes, coaches, and other experts.

[Jewbacca]

24 minutes ago, Shebeen said:

 

I think it's more the middle ground here.

When you have read/supported a website over a significant period of time you have both freeloaded and yet also provided subscriber eyeballs to their advertising revenue. It's not just a give and take relationship.

Just switching to a paid/freemium model is going to alienate a lot of long term freeloading supporters. In my experience it just happened and came across as a finance exec run thing, and they are betting on their long term readers being loyal when it comes to moving from freeloading to shelling out ca$h.

I don't think I'm going to have the bandwidth to pay for any online cycling journalism/news outfit, but if it had to be one it looks like cyclingtips would be it. They seem to be going for creating quality content and letting the others with their more immediate stuff go for a race to the bottom. 

 

I am not sure why but I've chosen to be a paid subscriber to daily maverick (and this here le hub), and i occasionaly BuymeaCoffee some freelancers -  news24 can go look somewhere else with their premium content offering. If i can't explain my choices to myself then good luck to the experts trying to work out their models and pricing!

 

 

Rule of diminishing return.... Do all the work and get nothing in return/run at a loss or change the business model and hope to pull it in the right direction.

Or close it down and focus the attention/effort on things that create return.

Guys can hardly say they have 'supported' the website when the second they say 'have some free use, but pay us for unlimited access' everyone says 'I'm going elsewhere'. 

I don't work for free and the parts of business that use effort and have little to no return get canned or phased out.

I guess I just get triggered by the whole 'give it to me for free or die and I will still be super critical'