Media News - Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Times Online to charge for archive access

Times Online will erect a paywall in front of its fledgling online archive service from Thursday. When it was launched in June, Times Online editor-in-chief Anne Spackman said no decision would be taken about whether to keep access free or introduce a charge until a solid user base had developed. An email to users described the first three months of the archive as the 'free introductory period' and explained that although featured articles on the archive homepage would remain free, access will be charged at GBP 4.95 (EUR 6.20) for one day, GBP 14.95 for one month and GBP 74.95 for one year. The 200-year archive includes news stories from 1785 to 1985 including the Battle of Waterloo, the arrival of convicts at Botany Bay and the execution of Marie Antoinette, all in the original page layout. Times Online, as with other online newspapers, has had to decide whether to monetise its extensive archive by opening pages for free and relying on advertising, or whether to stick to traditional business-to-business revenues from libraries. Introducing paid access to consumers means sites can preserve their existing contracts with library firms, while keeping the service available to consumers and is likely to be seen as a more stable revenue stream in the current economic climate. The move follows a major announcement by Google last week, which is working with 100 newspaper partners, mostly in the US, to digitise and index their archives. (The Guardian)

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