On Tuesday, May 14, Postmedia Network extended its paid digital subscription model to all of its newspaper websites across Canada including the Edmonton Journal, National Post, Financial Post, Calgary Herald, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, Regina Leader-Post and Windsor Star.
After viewing 10 articles per month for free, readers who do not have a print subscription will be asked to register for a digital subscription.
Readers will be able to select from a variety of different pricing options including an All Access bundle, a Digital Access bundle or an ePaper PDF replica of the paper. International users will be able to view five free articles every 30 days before being asking to pay to access additional content.
“Newspapers around the world are realizing you can’t spend millions of dollars on content and give it away for free,” said Postmedia Network president and CEO Paul Godfrey in a press release.
Postmedia first began charging for online news content in 2011 when it introduced a paywall pilot project on websites for the Victoria Times Colonist—which has since been sold to Glacier Media—and the Montreal Gazette. The newspaper chain then launched metered paywalls in August 2012 for the Vancouver Sun, Vancouver Province and the Ottawa Citizen. It also began charging international readers for online content on the National Post’s website at this time.
Postmedia COO Wayne Parrish recently participated in a panel on paywalls at the INK+BEYOND newspaper conference. The industry discussion focused on the various ways newspapers are rethinking traditional revenue models and charging for content online.
