The UK’s biggest-selling regional daily has revealed plans to create a paywall on its website in an attempt to add value and boost circulation.
Wolverhampton daily the Express & Star is proposing to launch a new ‘premium’ part of its website, which will be sold to readers as part of a print and online subscription package.
The Midlands News Association title will continue to publish highlights of the day’s news on the front page of its website, which will remain free-to-view, but other content will be behind the paywall.
Deputy editor Keith Harrison revealed the move at a journalism conference in London today.
He said: “Other [regional publishers] have tried paywall content – some with varying results. I think the difference to what we’re doing is we’re not putting it behind the paywall as a standalone package.
“We’re not trying to sell this as a standalone, in competition to the hard copy paper. It’s a package to add value and help the overall circulation.”
Under the move, editors will decide which stories will appear on which side of the paywall on a case-by-case basis.
Keith told journalism.co.uk the paywall is expected to be launched within the next few months and a charging structure for the subscription package has not been finalised.
He said: “If it’s a model that proves successful it will be rolled out across the group.”
No one from the Express & Star wanted to comment further.
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Interesting move but doesn’t this slightly alienate the growing army of potential readers who have no interest in the print edition? The bread-and-butter subscribers (all 90+) aren’t really the ones who want full content online.
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Interesting to watch this one. Adding value to loyal readers is one thing, but if you just stick the same stuff online as is in the paper you’re merely letting them read it twice. Are E&S really likely to invest in bodies to make genuine, added value content that utilises the medium to its best potential? Or will they just push out print content to an online platform? If so, there’s very little worth buying and you may as well close your website and only run a print offering – especially if there’s no choice of paying for one option or the other.
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pay or not, web sites will only work if companies put specialist staff on them. The crucial problem is that JP, Newsquest, et al just want to squeeze more work out of newspaper hacks by making them double up as web writers. On the cheap I believe they call it and some of the websites are shameful.
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@Webfan Problem is they don’t double up as web writers as very little content is created to utilise the value of the online platform. It’s about playing to strengths. E&S’ website isn’t one of the better ones so I can’t see what ‘extra value’ they
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Pay for it? The E&S website is so poor they ought to pay us! And check the temperature because when they pay specialist web writers hell will freeze over.
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Its been said before many times on HTFP: No-one wants to read the worthy occasionally brilliant but largely dull stuff that fills local papers, especially weeklies, on a website. Regionals have more chance. But pay for it? Someone is over the hill and far away…
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I love the web but when are the accountants that run papers going to wise up? There is no meaningful money for local rags on the web. The volume of hits is way, way, too low for advertisers. They prefer one big hit a week in a paper that they know people will open and will read. Still a fact despite what the newspaper doom-mongers say. Mind you the way most firms are running down papers there won’t be much choice for them soon. Could end up web or nothing.
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Wolves footy has a big following on the E&S site. But I can’t see your average Wolves fan paying to read it.
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In defence of the E&S, at least its website is original, self-managed and updated by a dedicated staff. Due to the paper’s notorious story count, not a lot of content seems to go online in percentage terms. But half of it wouldn’t be of any interest anyway (rotary club raises £30 etc) At least they’re able to try something out, unlike the rotten ‘thisis’ Northcliffe series controlled remotely by monkeys – totally out of each paper’s hands.
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As I understand it the E&S will continue to publish their current website in the format it is today. The premium website will be available to those readers who receive the newspaper 6 nights a week as an added value loyalty package at no extra cost. The premium website which I also understand will carry additional content to news, will also be available to those who wish to subscribe for a monthly fee, bearing in mind that VAT is applicable to non print subscriptions, therefore making it cost effective to subscribe to the newspaper. Adding value now there’s a thought.
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@Traffic Chaos, looking at the last set of ABC’s Newspapers have enough trouble running newspapers, never mind websites.
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Very true Dave, but given the way the industry is going it is nothing short of disgraceful that so many newspapers are having virtually no control over something that will – in the long term – make or break the very existence of their brands. Newspaper websites have been two steps behind since day one. The performance of the Daily Mail is evidence that investment in the web is now paramount even to the print edition. It’s a shame the enthusiasm isn’t shared by Northcliffe. I hope the Express & Star is successful in its brave (if partially flawed) venture. It could make a huge difference to the long term survival of provincial hacks.
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I notice comments about Web Specific writers. Surely publishers need to invest in and nurture good writers, whether that is for print or the web. If people want to read your work they will, on line or in print. All current digital logic would dictate that Bloggs shouldn’t work, they are not Search Engine Optimised for instance. Despite not complying with the Emperors clothes that is Search Engione Optimisation, some great writers have good followings. The E&S seem to be trying something new, different and low cost. Rewarding exsiting readers and trying to appeal to new ones. The last successful launch was the I. It defied all logic that everything must be digital and people under thirty are not going to buy and read newspapers. I understand it is in excess of 150K paid for circulation and appeals to the under 30s particulalry. I understand that Circ is growing. Good writing, good presentation and the ability to deliver to your readers where ever they are, that must make sense.
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