Murdoch Sets Up “Web Subscription” Scheme for Newspapers
Please note that we are not authorised to provide any investment advice. The content on this page is for information purposes only.
News International, the British arm of News Corp., said two of its publications, The Times and The Sunday Times of London, would begin charging readers using its Web sites in June.
News International, the British arm of News Corp., said two of its publications, The Times and The Sunday Times of London, would begin charging readers using its Web sites in June.
News International, the British arm of News Corp., said two of its publications, The Times and The Sunday Times of London, would begin charging readers using its Web sites in June.
News International, the British arm of News Corp., said two of its publications, The Times and The Sunday Times of London, would begin charging readers using its Web sites in June.
News International said in a statement that both titles would introduce new Web sites in early May, separating their online offerings for the first time and replacing the combined site, Times Online. [br]
From June, the new sites, www.thetimes.co.uk and www.thesundaytimes.co.uk, will be available at £1, or $1.48, for a day’s access or £2 for a week’s subscription. Payment will give customers access to both sites.
The new sites will be available free for a trial period, according to this article in the New York Times.
The decision puts the two publications alongside a small but growing number of news organizations charging readers to access content online.
With traditional print circulation declining and advertising revenue weak — both from online and from print —
media companies are trying to extract new sources of revenue from online readers, despite the risk that they could alienate some by charging for access.
The Wall Street Journal, also owned by News Corp., The Financial Times and Newsday all charge for access.
The New York Times has announced a plan to do so.
Each has a payment system developed largely in-house.
News Corp. announced in August that all of its titles would move to charging for Web access.
Its chairman and chief executive, Rupert Murdoch, threatened last year to remove his publications’ stories from Google’s search index to encourage people to pay for content online.
