British Times To Also Charge For Online Content

At first we thought this may have been news about The New York Times and publisher Arthur Sulzberger Jr. planning to build a pay wall for his newspaper’s Web site, but apparently they are catching pay wall fever across the sea, too. The Times, owned by News International, is planning on charging for online access as well, as editor James Harding announced today.

Says Harding:

“From spring of next year we will start charging for the digital edition of the Times. We’re working on the exact pricing model, but we’d charge for a day’s paper, for a 24-hour sign-up to the Times. We’ll also establish a subscription price as well.”

This is marginally different from how U.S. papers like The Wall Street Journal and Newsday have approached the pay wall issue, but offering users a small fee for a daily price (even if it costs more in the long run) might lure readers into pulling out their credit cards. In addition, there was that recent study that The New York Times quotes saying that other countries’ citizens in the Western World were more likely to pay for online content than Americans.

Times editor James Harding outlines plans for online charging –The Guardian

Related: Newsday Prepares To Go Behind Paywall Next Week, Times’ Keller: Within Weeks Of Decision On Pay Wall

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