Wireless Opportunities

1
Wireless Opportunities
Newspapers 2000 CONNECTIONS Track Moscone
Center Sunday, June 18, 2000
2
Agenda For this Panel

• Youll leave knowing why Newspapers should care
  about being mobile
• Youll see how the platform might work, and how
  we might pay for it
• Youll hear what users want from wireless info,
  how advts. plan to use the medium, and how it
  could change how they buy.
• Youll have every reason to get involved in what
  the industry is doing.

3
Why Should We Care

• Today, 70 million cellular subscribers, 40
  million paging subscribers
• Japan Carrier signed up 4.2 million wireless
  data subscribers in one year (25K/day)
• By 2002, there will be more wireless users than
  wired users (IDC) and an estimated 108 million
  Web-enabled phones in U.S. (ATT)
• By 2003, 30 of households will have at least two
  connected devices (Forrester).

4
"It is easy to envision a time in the next few
years when the majority of Internet access could
be through wireless and not wired means. --
International Data Corp.
5
Why Should We Care

• Beyond phones 10 million personal digital
  devices shipped in 1999
• Palm 7 million units in circulation, plans to
  incorporate wireless capabilities (70K
  developers authoring for the Palm OS)
• On the horizon specialized, information-specific
  wireless devices, including some targeted just
  at local city guide info

6
Devices
7
Success Factors

• High penetration of Internet-ready phones --
  eventually theyll all be
• Faster transmission speeds
• Lower subscription fees (choice of free Web
  browsing)
• Easier-to-use wireless phones
• More content that takes advantage of the platform

8
New Media Federation

• Understand the landscape
• Meetings with wireless players
• Communicate findings to NAA membership

9
Opportunity

• Carriers are listening. You have something they
  want.
• Users want local information.
• High potential to extend the loyalty of your
  audiencre to a medium that is tactical, relevant,
  local and immediate.

10
Converse With the Carriers

• They control the phone (billing relationship)
• The interface (convenience)
• The localization mechanism
• The marketing/affiliation deals

11
The Threat

• Competition Yahoo!, AOLs Digital City,
  Ticketmaster-City Search all there.
• Forrester (June 2000) says 93 of major content
  providers will support Internet cell phones and
  96 PDAs by 2002. Average spending on these
  platforms will quadruple to 1.5 million on
  average.
• The most cited reason given (82) as to WHY
  content producers are doing this is the mediums
  ability to engender LOYALTY.

12
The Threat

• High potential for slotting inflation
• Diminished habitual PC usage
• Enablers could become the next portals
• Yellow Pages and carriers themselves may siphon
  off directory-enabled commerce and extend their
  promotional clout locally

13
Influencing Purchases

• The growth in wireless use and the convenience
  and sophistication of wireless devices means
  wireless call and response will replace Yellow
  Pages lookups as lead generators for local
  stores.
• -- The Kelsey Group

14
Wireless Device
15
Selection Process
16
Results
17
No Consensus on Business Model

• ATT Wireless Standardize offerings, pay
  bounties and split revenues.
• SprintPCS Sell home screen to big players, but
  not paid services to users
• Both want a piece of e-commerce
• We want it all -- subscriptions, advertising,
  bounties...

18
What Can We Do That the User Might Want?

• Alerts -- classifieds, auctions, stocks, news
• Offers -- tickets, sales (click to buy)
• Directions -- driving or walking
• Scheduling -- own and service providers
• Organizing -- contacts (including IM), useful
  information
• Horoscopes and Soap Opera Digest

19
Reasons for Using Internet
20

• 35K sign-ups in one day
• 70K subscribers in one month

21
AccessAtlanta drew 3,500 subscribers to its
wireless editions in one week.
Access Atlanta JuneauAlaska
Juneaualaska.coms PalmPilot edition
22
What NAA is Doing

• Data conversion techniques
• Working with Nando Media to develop wireless
  application server prototype

• Offering training materials, seminar at N2K
• Building index of wireless editions (including
  audiotex systems)
• Discussing collaboration issues
• Initiating discussions /road show contacts

23
What Can You Do?

• Use it
• Put useful info into a database
• Mobilize it, personalize it, localize it
• Make services useful/mandatory, and interactive
• Experiment with email and creeping permission
  services
• Keep it simple, but targeted
• Draw from past experience, but dont expect
  everything to convey

24
What Are Our Panelists Doing?

• Ed Canale, Director of Strategic Development and
  New Media, The Sacramento Bee
• Peter Howley, Business Development Director,
  Washington Post Newsweek Interactive
• Tom Bair, Director of Convergence Technologies,
  SF Interactive Inc.
• Gary A. Lillian, Senior Vice President/Marketing
  Communications, Jiffy Lube
• Mike Mills, Business Development VP, Aether
  Systems Inc.

25
Sacbee has a deal with Verizon under which it
receives an ongoing bounty for subscribers who
want news on their wireless devices.
26
(No Transcript)
27
(No Transcript)
28
(No Transcript)
29
(No Transcript)
30
(No Transcript)
31
(No Transcript)
32
(No Transcript)
33
(No Transcript)