By: Lucia Moses Internet Arm Outlines Plan To Reach Profitability
As part of a plan to get its Interactive division to
profitability, Belo said it will start charging for some new-
media content now delivered free to users.
Joining the shift away from the free online news model, Belo,
parent of The Dallas Morning News, will start charging for
some e-mail newsletters and content that is delivered to wireless
users, Belo Interactive President Jim Moroney said at the
company's annual investor conference held in New York on
Wednesday.
On the ad side, Belo also plans to start registering visitors to
its Web sites, following the example of The New York Times Co.
Moroney said the lifestyle and demographic data collected in the
registration process will give advertisers the ability to better
target their ads while allowing Belo to charge higher rates.
Additionally, Belo has doubled the size of its online sales staff
in the past year, and is seeking to grow its online classified
revenue as a portion of total online revenue.
Unlike some of its industry peers such as the Tribune Co. and
Knight Ridder, which have been scaling back their online spending
as the economy worsens, Belo has been hiring in its online
division. Belo Interactive racked up losses of $4.5 million in
the first quarter of 2001 versus $3.2 million in the same period
last year, and has yet to announce a target profitability date.
Moroney said Belo is staying the course because it sees its
Internet division as a long-term business venture.
"One-fifth of the U.S. population is going online daily to get
news and information," he said. "The question is, would you
retreat from these kinds of trends?"
It remains to be seen whether Belo has found the path to online
profitability. As Moroney said, "We have to experiment until we
find the right combination of content, delivery, and pricepoint."
But the lack of profits doesn't bother some investors, who noted
that the company's online expense is still relatively small. "The
Internet should enhance strong, branded content," said John
Kornreich, a value investor. "I don't need it to make money. I
just don't need it to be a drain."
Lucia Moses (lmoses@editorandpublisher.com) is an associate editor covering business for
E&P.
Related stories:
NEWSPAPER WEB SITES: 'SHOW ME THE MONEY' (04/30/01)
MOST PAPERS CHARGE FOR SOME CONTENT (04/26/01)
Copyright 2001, Editor & Publisher.
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