The Times – a preview behind the paywall
News International has unveiled its much-anticipated new-look Times website, ahead of its move to put the thetimes.co.uk and thesundaytimes.co.uk behind a paywall.
In June, users will be charged £1 for a day’s access or £2 for a full week’s subscription to the Times Plus site, which incorporates content from both The Times and The Sunday Times.
However, for now, anyone can ‘join the exclusive preview’ – which promises “full access to the new world of thetimes.co.uk and thesundaytimes.co.uk, including all the journalism you love and dynamic new ways in which you can engage with us as never before”.
The Times‘ sale is convincing, with the strap-line: “Don’t just read The Times – listen to it, watch it, shape it, be part of it.” The new site boasts a daily live Q&A – a chance to quiz journalists, exclusive photo galleries and video content, “unrivalled” interactive graphics, opinion that “comes to life” and “star” columnists from Matthew Parris to Caitlin Moran to Mike Atherton.
The Sunday Times site is notably different from The Times‘ headline-focused look and feel, with much more video-rich, multimedia content, which is far similar to a magazine’s online design.
It offers readers their “favourite sections & writers together for the first time online”, again with exclusive video and multimedia graphics, “stunning spectrum” photography galleries, live lunchtime debates, and a culture planner (a tool that will link the online version of a Sunday Times newspaper article on art events of the week with your Sky Planner to allow a recording to be booked on your set-top box).
Subscribers can also access “exclusive events + offers + extras” with “tickets to film previews, invitations to exclusive events hosted by our writers, complimentary upgrades, discounts and so much more” – something which is already available to print subscribers.
The company’s marketing effort stands out, but in terms of content there are “a lot fewer stories” on the new site, according to The Times‘ assistant editor Tom Whitwell. The title is keen to adopt a headlines and list-driven approach to news on the revamped site.
The new site also blocks anonymous comments under articles and almost entirely removes The Times and The Sunday Times content from search services, such as Google News.
News International claims the aim is build real relationships between journalists and readers, with an “all or nothing” approach, according to Whitwell.
Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, said: “This is just the start. The Times and The Sunday Times are the first of our four titles in the UK to move to this new approach. These new sites, and the apps that will enhance the experience, reflect the identity of our titles and deliver a terrific experience for readers. We expect to attract a growing base of loyal customers that are committed and engaged with our titles.”
The move will see The Times and its sister titles become the first UK papers to fully charge for online content and to keep all content locked away from non-paying customers. Rival offerings, such as the Wall Street Journal‘s site, for example, at least offer an extract of the article before asking for users to sign up.
For some, it’s a risky step for the titles – “The basic rules of marketing say people will substitute and not pay for what they can get free”, said Stevie Spring, chief executive of Future, in an interview earlier this week. Although, she pointed out, “it is an experiment they can afford to make”.
The Times’ editor James Harding unsurprisingly defended the move, telling Radio 4’s Today Programme this morning: “It’s time to stop giving our journalism away.”
However, the success will only be measurable if and when people decide to pay for access. If 5% of daily users sign up to the paid-for model, each buying a £1 daily pass, the company will generate revenues of around £1.83 million.
In October 2009, the first KPMG Media and Entertainment Barometer report found that 89% of people don’t pay for online media and don’t expect to start within the next year.
The same report, which is due to be released bi-annually from now on, said 28% of consumers admitted to buying fewer newspapers and magazines in favour of viewing free online content during the recession.
“The challenge is changing the mindset of a consumer population that’s used to accessing free online content,” David Elms, media partner at KPMG, said at the time.
However, speaking at Haymarket’s The Big Media Debate last Friday, News International’s Paul Hayes was positive about the move, and was candid enough to reveal: “I wrote the business plan.. so if it doesn’t work I’m in the shit.” He added that “its success doesn’t depend on other newspapers following us”, although there is no doubt that the rest of the industry will be looking to see how well received the new model is.
News International decided to withhold its monthly ABCe figure for its portfolio of titles last month, ahead of the Times Online moving to a paid-for model, however, the last ABCe figure for February 2010 shows that timesonline.co.uk was visited more than 1.2 million times a day (based on daily average unique browsers). According to the latest UKOM data, the Times site had a unique audience of over 3.6 million in March 2010.
By comparison, The Times newspaper recorded a slight period on period increase of 0.9% in April, according to our latest ABC report. However, the title’s total stands at less than 507,000 copies following a fairly substantial 14.2% year on year loss.
The Sunday Times was also among one of the few titles to report a period on period increase, despite losing out year on year. The Sunday quality paper posted a 2.1% period on period rise, however, a 7.1% year on year drop leaves it with a total of 1.1 million copies, down from 1.2 million this time last year.