Times website loses market share

The Times website has seen its share of UK newspaper web visits fall from 4.37% to 2.67% since registration was introduced, new Hitwise data has found.

With News International preparing to put the Times and Sunday Times websites behind a paywall, Experian Hitwise has released new data analysing traffic to the sites.

Within its ‘News and Media – Print’ category, Hitwise said that the title’s market share has dropped from 4.37% during the week ending 22 May to 2.67% last week (w/e 19 June).

Average session time on the site has fallen from an average of five and a half to three minutes, said Hitwise.

The new look sites were launched on 25 May, with compulsory registration introduced last Tuesday (15 June). The paywall is expected to go up at the end of this month, with users charged £1 a day or £2 a week to access content.

According to research from GfK, since the launch of the new look site, there have been notable changes in demographics, with more female visits and less male visits than before (compared to visits to Times Online, which is no longer in operation).

More older people are also signing in to the new site, as more and more younger readers drop off.  However, there has been no significant change in dwell time so far, and the peak time of day for visits to the Times and Sunday Times‘ sites remain between 9am and 12 noon.