Axel Springer announced plans to abandon separate print and digital philosophies a day after it announced that its flagship paper, Bild, has attracted more than 152,000 paying subscribers online six months after rolling out BILDPlus.The company said that Bild is converting 1.1% of its monthly traffic to paying subscribers, which is on par with industry standards (see our 2013 Online Subscription Benchmark Report for more on industry benchmarks), and better than the 0.7% reported by The New York Times after they launched their metered paywall.By dividing revenue into print and digital, many publications have almost “thought” themselves into a corner, focusing on trending terms like “digital first” or “multi-device access.” While this is not always a bad thing, Axel Springer seems to be taking a wiser approach to adjusting to the changing media landscape by realigning its business mission with the revenue streams it has.The company issued a press release saying that it will divide its business into the following segments as of 2014:

1. Paid models: Business models that are predominantly funded by paying readers.
2. Marketing models: Business models that are predominantly funded by paying advertising customers.
3. Classified ad models: Business models that are predominantly funded by paying job, real estate or auto advertising customers.

By doing so, Axel Springer is one of the few publishers no longer fixating on the print-digital divide, and instead, catering to reader behavior and consumer attitudes towards pay-worthy and free content.It’s a smart move that other legacy publications might want to consider.