The old dilemma about digital versions of newspapers – free or paywalled – has just added a third option: so cheap as to be insignificant, but attached to something so big it could significantly change the whole game. Jeff Bezos of Amazon bought the Washington Post as a personal plaything. Amazon Prime – his company’s giant streaming and delivery service – has a huge, growing membership. How could he use that clout to boost the Washington Post nationwide?
Easy: offer a six-month trial of Post online readership as free bait for joining $99-a-year Prime (£63), then see if that can be turned into a permanent subscription at $3.99 a month. (Remember, a print copy of the Financial Times only costs seven cents less). Theoretically, Prime might boost the Post and its reach adds lustre to Prime.
If it works, Bezos will make more money and the Washington Post will put ever more pressure on a standalone New York Times. Triumph of the 25m-plus battalions. You feel almost sorry for those who can’t make such grotesque size matter – competitors like Rupert Murdoch’s Wall Street Journal, busy last week revamping its international print editions in broadsheet and adding sections in a way that put the dear old newspaper first.
It’s a bold, nostalgic call in its way. But is it past its prime?