Business Maverick, Media
Times sheds 1.2 million readers in July
Data released by ComScore indicates that the number of UK readers that visited the Times daily and Sunday Times websites fell from a figure of 2.79 million unique users in June to 1.61 million unique users in July, after a paywall was erected in the first week of July. From the moment the paywall went up, users were redirected from the free-acess website, to the new site where they are required to subscribe for a fee in order to access both the Times and Sunday Times websites. News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation, the company that owns both publications, introduced an introductory £1 charge for the month of July, but access will now cost you £1 for a day's access to either site and £2 for a week's access. The average number of minutes each user spent on the site dropped from 7.6 in May, to 4 in July, strongly suggesting that most people access the home page, and then move on. News Corporation boss Rupert Murdoch was unfazed by the drop in unique users and claimed that subscriber numbers were "strong". However, other news websites in the UK which don't charge for access have not seen Times readers flock in numbers. Most saw a dip in user numbers from the highs of May and June. Read more: Mediaweek.
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