As newsbrands look for new ways to generate sustainable revenue streams, The Times’ head of digital has urged publishers which charge for content to move away from the idea of a ‘paywall’, and instead focus on ‘community’ and ‘membership’.
“Great journalism deserves to be paid for and needs to be paid for because it’s expensive,” said Alan Hunter, head of digital, The Times.
“But we no longer need to talk about the paywall – it’s disparaging. The cover price on a newspaper is effectively a paywall as well,” Hunter added, suggesting that publishers start talking about being “paid-for” instead.
Speaking at the PPA Festival on Thursday (21 May), Hunter said that The Times’ strategy was to move away from the idea of having subscribers – which Hunter described as “transactional relationship” with a brand – and instead look more closely at what paid-for models can offer for “members”.
“In a time where so much news is free, membership needs to offer so much more; it needs to make people feel part of a community,” Hunter said, citing the success of The Times’ subscriber-only magazine, Byline.
“We need to offer a whole lot more than just the digital representation of the newspaper. We want to draw people in much more deeply.”
The Times, which put all of its online content behind a paywall in 2010, currently has more than 400,000 subscribers, with the majority paying £6 per week for access to all digital content, “enhanced” experiences and exclusive offers.
When asked whether The Times’ current model works, Hunter said: “Hell yes.”
The power of paid-for models and customer loyalty was echoed by CEO of The Week, Kerin O’Connor.
95% of The Week’s revenues come from renewal subscriptions, with the average lifetime subscription revenue standing at £463.
The weekly magazine, which launched in 1995, currently offers a range of subscription options, with its print and digital package starting at £35.99.
To date subscription revenues have generated £193.75 million.
