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UK Times to charge foreign Net readers
Wednesday, March 20 2002
by The Register


Foreigners will have to pay to read The Times on-line, with tariffs levied on 10
separate channels. 



The newspaper, part of the Murdoch empire, says it can identify overseas visitors
with "90 percent accuracy," writes Drew Cullen. 



"The free ride is over and the days of free content have gone," Paul Hayes,
the general manager of Times Newspapers, told the Media Guardian. 



The Times charges for some on-line content already, most notably for access to
its famous crossword section. It is also to start charging for access to law
reports and for a new World Cup section, the Guardian reports. 



So what will happen when the charges are introduced: first the reader numbers
will drop, and then the advertising revenues will follow. Overseas readers will
tip up at for their UK fix at The BBC and the Guardian Online and, so long as it
remains free, the Electronic Telegraph. 



Very few newspapers have made a success or a profit out of their on-line sisters.
In the UK, The Guardian and The FT have done well on the readership front, and
the latter has done well on revenues (while managing to drop STG30 million last
year on its FT.com subsidiary). 





The Register and its contents are
copyright 2002 Situation Publishing. Reprinted with permission.