News International puts Times content behind paywalls

Publisher will charge readers £1 for a day's access

Brooks: "Obsession with traffic doesn't pay"

News International (NI) has announced that it will charge readers to access its content in a bid to mitigate the effect of ever-declining newspaper sales.

Subscribers to the Times and Sunday Times and those registered with Times Online will be invited to register for a preview of the new scheme this week, the publisher’s chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, said in a memo to staff.

It is speculated that the paywall could start around May Day. Readers will be charged £1 for a day's access or £2 to access to both papers' web sites for a week.

In her message, Brooks said that the publishers are “making a mistake by chasing millions of unique users and giving away content for free”, adding that “an obsession with traffic just doesn't pay”.

Price may be a barrier to take-up, said Brooks, who recognised that the bold move may see unique user numbers decrease dramatically, but added that users who decide to register will be “more committed to and engaged” with NI’s titles.

“This is an exciting development for our company especially as we will be among the first in the world to take this step,” said Brooks.

“There are many who declare we have set ourselves an impossible task. But our company loves nothing more than challenging the status quo,” she said.

Meanwhile, the firm’s rival Guardian News and Media is focusing on enhancing reader engagement on the web and looking to capitalise on its customer base of about 36 million unique users a month by logging their location and analysing their behaviour online.