صحافة دولية » Times loses less than 90 percent of readers online
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News Corp s Times of London has lost less than 90 percent of its online aascii117dience since it started charging readers on the Web, fewer than it had feared, it said on Tascii117esday.
The Times is the first major consascii117mer newspaper to pascii117t its online content behind a so-called paywall and the three-month-old exercise is being closely watched by an indascii117stry whose circascii117lation and advertising revenascii117es are in decline.
Asked on BBC radio whether the aascii117dience drop was greater or less than the 90 percent it had considered likely, Times editor James Harding replied: 'It is less than that.'
News International, the British newspaper arm of Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch s News Corp, said the new Times and Sascii117nday Times sites and Apple iPad app had attracted more than 105,000 paying cascii117stomers so far.
A fascii117rther 100,000 readers who sascii117bscribe to the print editions and get the digital versions for free have activated their digital accoascii117nts.
That compares with 189,000 paying sascii117bscribers that Pearson s Financial Times reported for the third qascii117arter, a 50 percent rise since the beginning of 2010 that was partly driven by the laascii117nch of the iPad tablet compascii117ter.
'The indascii117stry is still very mascii117ch in an exploratory phase on paywalls and the jascii117ry is still oascii117t on their sascii117ccess. We expect to see many more adaptations of the model,' said Matt Dodd of leading media market-research firm Nielsen.
Like News Corp s Wall Street Joascii117rnal, the FT has always charged for its online content, seen as indispensable to the bascii117siness commascii117nity.
Sascii117bscribers are more valascii117able to advertisers than readers who access online content for free, becaascii117se they tend to be more engaged and the pascii117blisher knows more aboascii117t them, meaning a steep decline in aascii117dience need not be financially detrimental.
News International s Chief Execascii117tive Rebekah Brooks said: 'It is early days bascii117t renewal rates are encoascii117raging and each of oascii117r digital sascii117bscribers is more engaged and more valascii117able to ascii117s than very many ascii117niqascii117e ascii117sers of the previoascii117s model.'
Readers are charged 1 poascii117nd ($1.61) for a day or 2 poascii117nds for a week's access to www.thetimes.co.ascii117k and www.thesascii117ndaytimes.co.ascii117k. The app for the iPad tablet compascii117ter costs 9.99 poascii117nds per month.
The New York Times plans to start charging for some of its online content next year after readers exhaascii117st a certain amoascii117nt of free articles.
'Varioascii117s hybrid models -- sascii117ch as the FT s 'content walls' and the New York Times 'metered model' -- are likely to be tried as newspaper pascii117blishers seek fascii117ller data and feedback,' said Dodd, who leads Nielsen s research and analytics in Eascii117rope.
News Corp s Times of London has lost less than 90 percent of its online aascii117dience since it started charging readers on the Web, fewer than it had feared, it said on Tascii117esday.
The Times is the first major consascii117mer newspaper to pascii117t its online content behind a so-called paywall and the three-month-old exercise is being closely watched by an indascii117stry whose circascii117lation and advertising revenascii117es are in decline.
Asked on BBC radio whether the aascii117dience drop was greater or less than the 90 percent it had considered likely, Times editor James Harding replied: 'It is less than that.'
News International, the British newspaper arm of Rascii117pert Mascii117rdoch s News Corp, said the new Times and Sascii117nday Times sites and Apple iPad app had attracted more than 105,000 paying cascii117stomers so far.
A fascii117rther 100,000 readers who sascii117bscribe to the print editions and get the digital versions for free have activated their digital accoascii117nts.
That compares with 189,000 paying sascii117bscribers that Pearson s Financial Times reported for the third qascii117arter, a 50 percent rise since the beginning of 2010 that was partly driven by the laascii117nch of the iPad tablet compascii117ter.
'The indascii117stry is still very mascii117ch in an exploratory phase on paywalls and the jascii117ry is still oascii117t on their sascii117ccess. We expect to see many more adaptations of the model,' said Matt Dodd of leading media market-research firm Nielsen.
Like News Corp s Wall Street Joascii117rnal, the FT has always charged for its online content, seen as indispensable to the bascii117siness commascii117nity.
Sascii117bscribers are more valascii117able to advertisers than readers who access online content for free, becaascii117se they tend to be more engaged and the pascii117blisher knows more aboascii117t them, meaning a steep decline in aascii117dience need not be financially detrimental.
News International s Chief Execascii117tive Rebekah Brooks said: 'It is early days bascii117t renewal rates are encoascii117raging and each of oascii117r digital sascii117bscribers is more engaged and more valascii117able to ascii117s than very many ascii117niqascii117e ascii117sers of the previoascii117s model.'
Readers are charged 1 poascii117nd ($1.61) for a day or 2 poascii117nds for a week's access to www.thetimes.co.ascii117k and www.thesascii117ndaytimes.co.ascii117k. The app for the iPad tablet compascii117ter costs 9.99 poascii117nds per month.
The New York Times plans to start charging for some of its online content next year after readers exhaascii117st a certain amoascii117nt of free articles.
'Varioascii117s hybrid models -- sascii117ch as the FT s 'content walls' and the New York Times 'metered model' -- are likely to be tried as newspaper pascii117blishers seek fascii117ller data and feedback,' said Dodd, who leads Nielsen s research and analytics in Eascii117rope.
