The Times ups its weekday cover price
News International has raised The Times‘ weekday cover price by 10p to 90p in a bid to counter increased printing costs and the economic downturn.
The Times now sits in between its two rival titles, with The Guardian costing 80p and the weekday Independent costing £1.
The News International paper, which told readers of the planned price change in Saturday’s edition, again matches the price of the Telegraph Media Group’s quality title, the Daily Telegraph.
The Times raised its cover price to 80p in September last year to match the cost of the Telegraph, however, later that month the Telegraph increased its weekday price to 90p.
Times‘ columnist Sally Baker wrote: “It gives us no please to ask readers to pay more in what will be a tough year for so many people, but I am afraid it was inevitable against the background of the economic downturn and the ever-rising cost of newsprint.”
Last month, the paper announced plans to relaunch its Saturday edition with a revamp of its supplements and a new broadsheet format section (see Times to relaunch its Saturday edition).
The first edition of the new look Saturday Times, which is also understood to be contributing to News International’s wider cost-cutting plans, is expected to hit the newsstands at the end of January.
In the latest ABC release, The Times suffered a year on year dip of 2.4%, leaving its total circulation at around 622,000 copies, while The Daily Telegraph‘s circulation stands at just over 835,000 following a year on year fall of 5.4% (see ABC National Newspaper Round-Up: November 2008).
In the same release the Sunday Times was the only title in the overall Sunday market to buck the downward trend after its full colour relaunch (see Sunday Times Set For Full-Colour Relaunch).
It witnessed a 0.8% year on year increase, gaining almost 9700 to take its circulation to over 1.2 million copies, which is nearly double the amount as its nearest competitor in the quality Sunday market sector.
News International: 020 7782 3922 www.newscorp.co.uk