News Corp to charge for newspaper websites

Rupert Murdoch said last night that he is to charge customers for using the websites of the Times, the Sunday Times, the Sun and the News of the World. He cited the success of the Wall Street Journal, which he bought in 2007, in making money out of its subscription service, a business model shared by the Financial Times, saying “that it is possible to charge for content on the web is obvious from the Wall Street Journal’s experience”.

He indicated that moves to charge customers were likely to take place within the next 12 months and that the issue was one currently being considered by the entire newspaper industry.

Murdoch was talking to a group of analysts and reporters after announcing News Corporation’s latest quarterly results. Newspaper profits slid 47 per cent in the third quarter, although the numbers were rescued by exceptional gains on asset sales, which bolstered the bottom line to the tune of $1.7bn.

The newspaper division just broke even, with earnings slumping from $216m in 2008 to $7m in the same quarter of 2009. Weak advertising revenues were behind the numbers, with television profits equally affected, forcing the group to look at alternative ways of making money.

However Murdoch did join the ranks of other corporate executives, in suggesting that the worst of the economic crisis may now be over.

WHAT THEY ARE SAYING
Lex, FT: "On the day that Amazon launched a new large-screen device designed to replace paper and ink, it is clear that paid digital distribution is the future (even if Mr Murdoch has no intention of allowing Amazon to control the market). But pressing ahead while its competitors remain free may well become a very costly experiment. In the past six months, shares in News Corp have halved then re-doubled twice in succession. It is not yet clear that the worst of that rollercoaster ride is over."

James Quinn, Daily Telegraph: "News Corp owns a wealth of titles, from The Sun and The Times in the UK to the New York Post and Wall Street Journal in the US. Like many in the business, the company is contending with a long-term sales decline in many titles at the same time as falling advertising. Mr Murdoch is hoping to find ways of charging users for content." ·