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Gordon's Republic

Times editor (UK) gives details on paid content plans

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James Harding, the editor of The Times, has revealed a few details about the paper's plan to charge for content as part of Rupert Murdoch's pay wall ambitions.

According to MediaGuardian and Press Gazette, Harding told the Society of Editors conference in Stanstead, Essex, that the paper would launch a subscription service for online access early next year. The announcement follows news earlier this month that News Corp would not hit its target to launch a pay wall by the end of this year.

He said that The Times and The Sunday Times were likely to lead Murdoch's paid content initiative and be the first to charge for digital content in Murdoch's News Corporation media empire.

Harding said less frequent visitors to Times.co.uk would be able to purchase 24 hours access, which would likely cost the same as buying a print edition of the Times. The paper is currently 90p, but £1 seems like a nice round figure to me.

What we know for sure is that it won't be micropayments. Harding dismissed the idea of micro-payments for individual articles, which is being looked at by some other news organisations.

He likened the free access model to "window shopping down Oxford Street", but said these people were not coming into "our shops".

"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," Harding said.

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Published Nov 17 2009, 12:36 PM by Gordon Macmillan