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The Times and Sunday Times newspapers will start charging to access their
websites in June, owner News International (NI) has announced.
Users will pay 1 for a day's access and 2 for a week's subscription.
The move opens a new front in the battle for readership and will be watched
closely by the industry.
NI 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.
ANALYSIS
Tim Weber, business editor, BBC News website
"Free" is an easy sell, but an awful business model if you offer expensively
produced content while trying to make a living (and healthy profits). Like most
commercial media organisations, News International is desperate to earn enough
money online to make up for the sharp decline of its traditional media
business. But there are no ready-made solutions to survive the on-demand media
revolution.
There are many reasons why the Times model is likely to fail. There is no
widely accepted system of online micro payments for consumers of news. And
especially English language media have plenty of free competitors - both
commercial rivals and public service organisations like the BBC. But what are
the alternatives? There is a limited supply of Russian oligarchs to step in and
sustain the losses suffered by old media (like The Independent newspaper).
As technology and media consumption habits evolve, the industry will come up
with payment and subscription models; the newspapers that fail on the way will
be commemorated in the Church of the Dead Tree.
The two new sites will be available for a free trial period to registered
customers. And payment will give customers access to both sites.
With newspaper sales in decline, companies have been searching for a business
model that will make money from their websites.
But with so much news content available for free on the internet, NI's decision
to charge is seen by many people as a high risk strategy.
James Harding, editor of The Times, agreed that there was a risk. "But it's
less of a risk than just throwing away our journalism and giving it away from
free," he told the BBC.
He likened the news industry to the music industry of four years ago. "People
said the game is up for the music industry because everyone is downloading for
free. But now people are buying from download sites."
Ms Brooks said 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."
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/business/8588432.stm
Published: 2010/03/26 09:49:22 GMT