We won’t know for a while whether the shift toward subscriptions will save the media industry or doom it. Advertising makes it possible to have free news and entertainment, and that makes for a bigger number of users. It was a great deal for a while: Media company makes fun or informative stuff. The stuff attracts people. Advertisers pay to pitch products to the people drawn by media content. It was a good deal on all sides. Until it wasn’t, and everyone shifted to the subscription plan B route.
Source: Google and Facebook Killed Free Media – Bloomberg Gadfly
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