Times Set to Charge for Online Content from Spring
Despite Rupert Murdoch's admission last week that his plans for a shift to paid-for instead of free news content are likely to be delayed from the original June deadline, Times Online is to introduce pay walls as early as Q1 2010. This change is part of a major revamp of their site in April 2010.
The move towards paid content follows Murdoch's comments that the company can no longer offer its content for free. In August he said, "Quality journalism isn't cheap. An industry that gives away its content is simply cannibalising its ability to produce good reporting. The digital revolution has opened many inexpensive methods of distribution, but it hasn't made content free. Accordingly, we intend to charge for all our news websites."
Other publishers investigating the paid-for model include Thomson Reuters, Guardian Media Group and The National Magazine Company. This shift to charging for content comes despite consumer hostility. A New Media Age poll in May found just 12% of consumers would pay to read a newspaper online, while 31% would pay if it meant there was no advertising on the site.