The Los Angles Times online version is going the route of the paywall structure for digital content starting March 5th 2012. Users will be able to view up to 15 free stories per month and then be mandated to pay to continue reading.
The LA Times is going to be offering an introductory rate of 0.99 for the first month of its digital subscription plan. After that you will have to shell out $3.99 a month for website access. It is said when you subscribe you will be eligible for “retail discounts, deals and giveaways.”
The online paper receives a copious amount of online traffic from phones, tablets, and computers. The most current statistic is that 34.8 million people check out the website per month. This potentially can account for a large amount of revenue for the paper. Which is good news because the subscription rate for the print edition has fallen by 200,000 in the last two years. It currently sits at about 573,000 active subscribers. The company intends on offering a $1.99 a week for website access and the print edition of the Sunday edition.
Michael Kozlowski is the editor-in-chief at Good e-Reader and has written about audiobooks and e-readers for the past fifteen years. Newspapers and websites such as the CBC, CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and the New York Times have picked up his articles. He Lives in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
