Introduction
In July 2010, the Times newspaper began charging for online content through an online paywall. This was done to address the problem of falling revenues that had come about through a long term decline in sales of print copies. This case study looks at how successful the Times paywall has been in rectifying the revenue decline.
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Highlights
The Times paywall can be hailed neither as a spectacular success nor a disastrous failure.
A metered paywall, as adopted by The New York Times, has proved a more successful approach.
The cost structure issue ultimately means that many newspapers will become unprofitable long before they run out of subscribers.
Your key questions answered
- Has the Times paywall rectified the decline in long term print sales?
- Is charging for online content the answer to falling advertising revenues as a result of the decline in print sales?
- Why has a metered paywall proved more successful than the Times' watertight version?