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More Rupert Murdoch paywalls will be erected in the UK as the Times and Sunday Times announced it was to charge for online content. From June the two leading broadsheet papers will bill users £1 a day for access and £2 for a weeks readership. Many in the industry have predicted the move after the Australian media baron started charging readers for content with his other two flagship titles, the Wall Street Journal and the FT. The strategy has been high risk but widely accepted as successful given the perishable quality of business news - paywalls are set for News International's NewsCorporation, MediaNews and the New York Times from next year. "Critical step"
News International Chief Executive Rebekah Brooks said it was "a crucial step towards making the business of news an economically exciting proposition".
Both titles will launch new websites in early May, separating their digital presence for the first time and replacing the existing, combined site, Times Online. The two new sites will be available for a free trial period to registered customers. And payment will give customers access to both sites. Ms Brooks added that the decision to charge came: "...at a defining moment for journalism... We are proud of our journalism and unashamed to say that we believe it has value. "This is just the start. The Times and The Sunday Times are the first of our four titles in the UK to move to this new approach. We will continue to develop our digital products and to invest and innovate for our customers."
FT success
The Financial Times has 121,000 paying online subscribers who opt for various premium services, estimated to contribute about £30m annually in direct reader revenue. Both the FT and the Wall Street Journal have raised their print and online subscription fees whilst most papers struggle in a recession hit advertising crisis. For the first time in its history, the Financial Times' subscription and other reader revenues exceeded its advertising income. Last year digital and other reader revenues made up two-thirds of Financial Times Group earnings - advertising contributed about 25 percent of revenues. There has been dismay in some quarters that the bold move is not being coordinated with other major media groups, making it more likely the scheme will fail. Factors such as the BBCs inability to charge for content and that one or two papers not toeing the industry line and cleaning up their rivals readership and advertising, makes concerted efforts to stem the systemic decline of the printed press a media holy grail.
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