Partner Article

Paid-for content endures shaky start

THE Times has lost 66% of its online readership following the introduction of a paywall, according to reports, as bdaily readers kick the notion of paid-for content into touch.

Rupert Mudroch, head of News International, the media group that controls The Times last year announced the company’s decision to implement a paywall around both The Times and The Sunday Times.

Industry experts had predicted a 90% fall in readers, but, according to recent data compiled by Experian Hitwise, The Times had received 66% less visits than its pre-registration level, before 2 July.

According to Experian, the biggest fall happened five weeks before the paywall was implemented, when visitors were asked to register on the website to access content. During this period, the site lost 58% of visitors.

Currently, News International only charges £1 for the first 30 days of access to the websites, but Murdoch aims to to increase the price to £1 per day or £2 per week, after the introductory period expires.

Meanwhile, we asked bdaily readers whether they were willing to pay for online national news and sport content, with 95.2% answering ‘no’.

With only four readers willing to pay to keep up to speed with the news, it seems it may be some time before The Times can persuade great numbers through its paywall.

GO TO bdaily.info to take part in our latest poll.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .