The Times and The Sunday Times merge sites under new edition-based strategy
The Times and Sunday Times has merged their online properties which will support the publisher’s move away from rolling news coverage to an edition-based model for the first time.
Moving forward one edition will be produced each day across all platforms – including its revamped smartphone apps – with updates published at 9am, noon and 5pm, changing on weekends to noon and 6pm.
The Times claims that the new publishing model is reflective of its readers’ daily routines after research found that people generally come to it at set points of the day, instead turning to the likes of Twitter when news breaks.
“The power of an edition has endured at The Times for more than 230 years. Our challenge is to update this concept for the digital age: to put readers first and cut through the babble,” explained Times editorJohn Witherow.
However, it maintains that the revised model has the flexibility to follow a big breaking news story when warranted.
“An edition-based digital format allows us to showcase the breadth of what we offer in a fresh way that is as easy to navigate and share as our precious print edition,” added Martin Ivens, editor of The Sunday Times.
An update to the website and apps has leant towards a cleaner design and a new font. Sections will also be renamed consistently across all of its products.