MEDIA-I: AWSJ to move online before year end

<p>The Asian Wall Street Journal (AWSJ) will be available online </p><p>before the end of this year, according to senior executives at Dow </p><p>Jones. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>On a recent visit to Hong Kong, Dow Jones president, international, </p><p>Karen House, said that although wsj.com and feer.com are available to </p><p>Asian readers, regional news concerning business issues in Asia remained </p><p>limited on the wsj.com site. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>She said the company would initially make AWSJ available online in </p><p>English, and would consider localising content at a later stage. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The wsj.com site, a paid subscription service, is among the few internet </p><p>sites bringing in revenue. According to industry analysts, it was one of </p><p>the early sites that charged users for content rather than depend </p><p>heavily on online advertising for revenue. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>House noted, "Just consider that today the wsj.com site has a larger </p><p>subscription base than FT. Right from the start, what we've always </p><p>believed is that you can't always make advertisers pay for everything. </p><p>If you're producing good content for value, people will be willing to </p><p>pay for it." </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"It is unclear whether the AWSJ website would be available for free or </p><p>offered on a paid subscription basis. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>"Wsj.com offers different services, such as it values your portfolio or </p><p>it offers briefings on business books. These services are not available </p><p>with the print version, but allow us to offer interactive features," </p><p>House added. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Wsj.com has 547,000 paid subscribers. Interestingly, Dow Jones </p><p>vice-president international, Philip Revzin, noted that 65 per cent of </p><p>those who subscribe to the site do not subscribe to the print. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Other sites, such as Terra Lycos and Yahoo, are also following the likes </p><p>of wsj.com by charging for services, as advertisers continue to shy away </p><p>from the internet. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>Wsj.com has also made online subscription packages available in more </p><p>than 45 leading bookstores in Hong Kong and Singapore. </p><p><BR><BR> </p><p>The move is part of the company's strategy to "complement its online and </p><p>offline advertising efforts" in Hong Kong, according to wsj.com </p><p>marketing and circulation director for Asia-Pacific, Waikay Lau. </p><p><BR><BR> </p>