India digital news market is undergoing a transformation as subscription-based models are gaining grounds. In the last few years, many news sites have ‘income up’ with similar model putting their content behind a paywall and asking readers to pay for quality journalism.
And the success of The Ken, which claims to have over 15K active subscribers after almost three years of its launch and ET Prime, have to an extent proved that Indian readers are willing to pay for quality content.
To provide quality content and cash in on the existing demand for the subscription-based model, former business journalists from the Ken, Mint and Deccan Chronicle have come together to launch subscription-only digital publication called The Morning Context (TMC).
The research and media company will publish one long-form story a day, every Monday and Tuesday along with a weekly newsletter, Things Change, and Shorts—concise articles providing context and perspective to newsbreaks on Thursday.
“We believe that subscription-led journalism is the way forward for the industry, said Harveen Ahluwalia,” one of the founding members of TMC.
The subscription is priced at Rs 1,999 including taxes.
The news stories will mainly be in three domains: Internet, Business and Chaos. Besides Ahluwalia, the founding members include Saif Iqbal, Pranav Srivilasan and Pradip K. Saha
TMC will mainly compete with ET Prime and The Ken. Other subscription-based platforms include Bloomberg Quint, VC Circle, Dealstreet and Business Standard, but their target audience is different.
India readers are gradually opening up to the concept of paying for quality content. It may not have gone near to large scale, but surely is making space in the readers’ mind.
How new platforms joining the segment will strengthen readers belief in the subscription-based model will be keenly observed.
