New business models for Online Press: The Freemium model on Publico.pt, Elpais.com and Nytimes.com

Technological developments and the emergence of the Internet caused great changes in the media sector, and the Press is one of the sectors that has been affected the most. Finding alternative business models that enable the sustainability of media online, it’s nowadays essential. The New York Times and the El Pais are daily newspapers, references in their countries as well as internationally, and they are presented in this paper as case studies that will allow us to have a broader picture of this evolution, which is in different stages in the United States and Europe. We want to understand, through the study and comparison with Publico Online, where the Portuguese reality can be positioned in this metamorphosis, which will change the way we consume the media, in particular the Press. What business models are being adopted and what practical results are being achieved, at the level of content and revenue will then be the main points of this dissertation, which aims to evaluate the implementation and workability of the Freemium model of these three bodies of media on their online spaces.