Financial Times to charge for online content

The Financial Times has decided to follow News International’s lead and launch a pay-per-view model for access to the FT.com.

The financial title, which is owned by Pearson, is currently reviewing whether it will offer any free content but plans to finalise details in time to implement a new paid-for model by next summer.

It is understood that the FT.com could opt for a similar payment process to the one used by Amazon and Apple’s iTunes.

Pearson’s announcement comes just a day after Rupert Murdoch unveiled plans to start charging users to access all of his UK news websites, including The Times, the Sun and the News of the World.

“Quality journalism is not cheap,” Murdoch said. “The digital revolution has opened many new and inexpensive distribution channels but it has not made content free.”

Murdoch said has reviewed the possibilities and is willing to take the risk of leading the industry towards a new model.

“I believe that if we’re successful, we’ll be followed fast by other media,” he said. “We’re certainly satisfied that we can produce significant revenues from the sale of digital delivery of newspaper content.”

FT.com currently offers users a mix of free and paid-for content. Users that register on the site can access up to 10 free articles per month, or they can opt for an online subscription, which costs £150 a year.