Only after the bloggers realized they could get free shipping with no minimums on the products in the box were they excited about the $5 off coupon that Macy's offers along with the subscription (presumably with the idea that it would offset the higher overall subscription price).
A free wsj.com, he thinks, could attract 10m-15m readers readers from around the world (compared with 3.1m unique monthly users in September, according to comScore); the resulting increase in ad revenue would more than offset the loss of subscription income.
Cable operator Charter Communications –whose Chairman Paul G. Allen was a cofounder of Microsoft – reported a narrower first-quarter loss, as strong sales of high-speed Internet services helped offset the sag in cable subscriptions.
Of course, getting consumers more interested in the content and nuances of their own credit reports translating into revenue from subscription products will offset the enormous costs of the new regulations requiring free annual reports.
Though DirecTV and Sling TV have grown, it hasn't been at a fast enough rate to offset the decline in traditional TV subscriptions.
The company's challenge till now has been raising money through advertising and premium subscriptions, to offset the costs of royalty streaming payments to the big four music labels: Sony BMG, Universal Music, Warner Music and EMI.
By buying Starz, Lionsgate will get a TV distribution network for its portfolio with dependable subscription revenue to offset the unreliable box office, an advantage most major media companies already have.
And, even in absolute subscriber numbers, streaming TV's growth isn't enough to offset the decline in traditional pay-TV subscriptions.
As for publishers, he said, it's already clear that many are pushing subscriptions more heavily to offset the need for more aggressive advertising — a trend that Google's new tool will probably encourage.
"The revenue growth from subscriptions alone more than offset the declines from physical sales and permanent digital downloads," the trade group said.
