The Times and The Sunday Times newspapers will begin charging for Internet access to content in June, offering subscriptions at £1a day or £2 a week, News International announced on Friday.
Access to the digital services will be included in the seven-day subscriptions of print customers to The Times and The Sunday Times .
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., parent company of News International, announced in August that all titles would move to charging for Web access. News Corp. owns the Wall Street Journal , which has one of the most successful pay-for-news Web sites. It had an average of 407,000 electronic subscribers during the six months ending Sept. 30.
The Wall Street Journal offers 1-year subscriptions for $1.99 per week.
News International’s chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, indicated that paid subscriptions would also be introduced for The Sun and News of the World , but did not say when.
The New York Times announced in January that it would impose a metered charging system in 2011. This would allow free access to a few stories, but paid subscriptions would be needed for full access to the newspaper’s content.
That is similar to the system adopted by the London-based Financial Times . The newspaper charges £3.05 per week (or $3.49 in the United States) for a Web-only subscription; subscribers to the print edition can add Internet access for £1 pound per week.
