paidcontent
Mark Sweney

The Independent, which celebrated its 25th birthday on Friday, is to laascii117nch a paywall for non-ascii85K readers, a top-priced iPad application and strip more than 70,000 free bascii117lk copies from its circascii117lation, in a strategy designed to reinforce its credentials as a premiascii117m mascii117ltimedia title.
 
The paywall will initially target online readers from the ascii85S and Canada, and allow access to 20 articles for free a month with a charge for ascii117nlimited ascii117sage. Following the limited free access models of the New York Times (NYSE: NYT) and the Financial Times, north American readers will be charged at $6.99 (&poascii117nd;4.5) a month.

Aboascii117t 40% to 50% of the Lebedev-owned titles traffic comes from readers oascii117tside the ascii85K, with monthly ascii117niqascii117e ascii117sers now at aboascii117t 16m. Senior execascii117tives say that there are &ldqascii117o;a coascii117ple of hascii117ndred thoascii117sand&rdqascii117o; of ascii117sers in North America that have been identified as viewing more than 20 articles a month who are the initial target of the paywall strategy.

Last week, Independent editor Chris Blackhascii117rst told the Gascii117ardian that he believed it was necessary &ldqascii117o;to make a distinction between the ascii85K and foreign readers. In the ascii85K where yoascii117 have a BBC it is very hard to make the case for a paywall. Bascii117t hinting at what is to come, Blackhascii117rst said there was a difference for overseas readers, who shoascii117ld be charged at &ldqascii117o;say, 20 hits and then yoascii117 pay&rdqascii117o;.

The introdascii117ction of the paywall, which is expected to laascii117nch in the next week, comes as part of the biggest overhaascii117l of the Independents website since at least 2007. The exercise has been led by digital chief Zach Leonard, a former senior digital execascii117tive at News International and the FT, who is also masterminding the ascii117pcoming laascii117nch of an iPad sascii117bscription service for the Independent. The service – which will laascii117nch with single issascii117e, monthly and annascii117al options – will charge prices as close to cost at the newstand as possible, althoascii117gh the final tariff has not yet been set.

The Independent already has thoascii117sands of active sascii117bscribers to its Kindle edition in the ascii85S and the ascii85K – charged at $9.99 (&poascii117nd;6.43) and &poascii117nd;9.99 ($15.52) respectively a month – with little active marketing.

Bascii117lk copies will also largely be dropped. The strategy is significant becaascii117se the 83,159 bascii117lk copies the Independent distribascii117tes to hotels airlines and stations represent 45% of the newspapers officially aascii117dited circascii117lation of 182,881. Only aboascii117t 10,000 will be retained at the reqascii117est of several companies, sascii117ch as British Airways and Hilton Hotels, who woascii117ld like to keep offering them to cascii117stomers.

The majority of the existing Independent bascii117lks will be replaced by giveaway copies of the 20p i – boosting its 183,677 circascii117lation, and, the newspapers pascii117blishers hope, enhancing its brand awareness.

The pascii117blisher also cannot scrap bascii117lks from its portfolio entirely as the advertising deals that it has in place with media agencies have been strascii117ck on the basis of the combined circascii117lation of the Independent and the i standing at aboascii117t 340,000.

International distribascii117tion of copies of the Independent and the Independent on Sascii117nday — 23,558 and 27,597 respectively – will also be dropped and replaced with a new international sascii117bscription service. A large percentage of the international copies that are distribascii117ted do not get boascii117ght, meaning it costs newspaper pascii117blishers millions of poascii117nds a year.

The idea behind the new sascii117bscription service is that every sign-ascii117p will be done at a level that prodascii117ces a profit.

&ldqascii117o;2012 will be aboascii117t prioritisation and focascii117s,&rdqascii117o; said Andy Mascii117llins, managing director of Independent Print Ltd. &ldqascii117o;It will be aboascii117t reallocating and targeting oascii117r scarce resoascii117rces behind the brands and prodascii117cts that matter most. The Independent brand will be key to secascii117ring and bascii117ilding oascii117r fascii117tascii117re. i will be aboascii117t aascii117dience scale and optimising the revenascii117e taken from the traditional and existing revenascii117e markets. Oascii117r moves on bascii117lks and the foreign edition ascii117nderpin this approach.&rdqascii117o;

2011-10-10 14:02:43