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Helsingin Sanomat : What a Free Web Site and Paid-For Digital Edition Has

Yielded

Helsingin Sanomat

What a Free Web Site and Paid-For Digital Edition Has Yielded

Helsingin Sanomat

•  The largest subscription based newspaper in the Nordic region (Circulation weekdays: 412 000, Sunday 468 000). 965 000 readers. Coverage in Finland 22% and in Greater Helsinki Area over 57%.

•  NYT- weekly supplement. Weekly guide for entertainment and free time activities. 1,0 million readers. Kuukausiliite – monthly supplement, magazine format, a pioneer in photojournalism and an initiator of debate. 1,4 million readers.

•  Online products: HS.fi (1,3 million unique weekly visitors)

•  99% of the circulation is based on subscriptions and

only 1% sold single copies

•  Helsingin Sanomat is delivered home before 6:00 am every

morning during the weekdays almost every region of the country.

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Description of the Printed and Digital Package: Combined Subscription (launched in 2006)

Business Logic and Pricing*

7-day subscription

Price Direct costs

229 260

Price Direct costs

Digital paper + archive

265 260 Combined subscription

Cap

ital a

rea

(eur

o)

Margin improvement/ subscription

12 x 3 e/month = 36 e/ subscription

7 days a week subscribers:

3 eur/month + printed paper price (295 eur/ year)

Weekend paper subscribers:

4,5 eur/month + printed paper price

Sunday paper subscribers:

6 eur/month + printed paper price

Non-subscribers:

15eur/month + printed paper price

(180 eur/year)

HS Digilehti – More Content for Combination (print + digi) Subscribers

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www.hs.fi/digilehti

HS Digilehti Part of Combination

Subscription, subject to charge for non- print subscribers (15

eur/month)

Full access only for Combo Subscribers:

•  free access to all HS digital archives

•  weekly / annual packages of Daily’s news / theme sections(eg. Sports)

•  free access to all digital supplements

•  HS.fi site including wide variety of content, services, etc.

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HS.fi – Web Site (Free and Open to Everybody)

1,3 million weekly visitors

Weekly visitors of HS.fi web site 2006 - 2009

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•  At the same time Helsingin Sanomat (free ) website has managed to increase its weekly visitors from 500 000 to over 1,3M visitors (top 3 most popular sites in Finland)

•  iPhone application (free) is the most popular IPhone news application in Finland

Conclusions •  Customers are willing to pay for digital content

•  It is possible to find good synergies between

traditional printed and digital channels

•  So far 1/5th of all HS subscriptions are Combination

subscriptions and the amount is increasing as most of

the new subscription sales include digital paper access

•  Totally new approach has shown that it is possible to make

profitable business with paid digital content without affecting

negatively printed newspaper or free web site

•  One of the future product development focus areas is

paid digital services

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Kiitos!