Salon Sells 10,000 Premium Subscriptions
Posted on July 13, 2001
Salon Media Group, Inc., an Internet media company, announced that its Salon Premium subscription service, launched April 25th, has generated over 10,000 paid subscriptions. Subscription plans are priced at $30 for one year and $50 for two years. Although Salon claims the number of subscribers is a success it does not generate a large amount of new revenue for the company, especially when the cost of developing the premium content and subscription management is considered. Salon also recently launched SalonWire a licensing service, to help generate additional revenue. Salon's stock is trading under 20 cents per share and it received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq in June. Salon's market cap is just slightly above $2 million.Salon Premium subscribers receive access to exclusive Salon.com content like ``The Love Potion Murders,'' a serialized murder mystery; ``Bushed!'', a daily column on the Bush administration; MP3 audio downloads and more. Subscribers also receive services such as the ability to download a complete day's worth of original Salon.com articles and the option of viewing Salon.com without encountering banner and pop-up advertising.
``We're thrilled by the early success of our new subscription service, Salon Premium,'' said Michael O'Donnell, Salon Media Group's President and CEO. ``These initial results track with our goal to convert 1%-2% of our 3,500,000 user base in year one. It also reaffirms our decision to move Salon's business to a hybrid model -- continuing to allow access to most of our content at no cost within an advertising sponsored environment akin to network TV and also providing a premium subscription version with exclusive content and services, much like cable TV.''
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