25 June 2007
In 2005 CNN took the controversial decision to charge $25 a year to subscribe to CNN’s video streaming.
Reported recently in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution many believe that CNN should change their video streaming subscription model. There are several reasons to implement a change to its model. Firstly, it is has become considerably cheaper to deliver video content, Martin said. “Today, bandwidth is much less expensive than when CNN Pipeline launched, and online news consumers are streaming broadband video at a much greater rate.”
CNN also found it difficult to overcome that the content should be free of charge, as many argue, clicks are free. Deciding that their audience might prefer smaller bite size chunks of paid-for content, CNN implemented some pricing variation to their structure, offering monthly access for $2.95 and even a 99-cent day pass.
As well as offering different price structures, they also offered free news on “big news days,” such as the 5th anniversary of September 11th—which, incidentally, was their highest traffic day ever, with 1.2 million users.
After this month, the news pipeline will be free and included into other services. Some subscribers will be refunded.
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