News UK boss says Times would consider following the Sun in dropping its paywall
News UK chief executive, David Dinsmore, has said The Times may consider scrapping its paywall in the future.
The former Sun editor said that it would be “foolish” to rule out a similar move to News UK’s tabloid paper, the Sun, which is to scrap its paywall at the end of November.
Dinsmore maintained that the Times digital subscription model, which launched in 2010, was performing better than the Sun’s but added that he “wouldn’t rule it out” when discussing the possibility of following suit.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Media Show, he said “anything is possible. I think it would be completely foolish in the world we live in to rule out any change of direction or tweak.”
Dinsmore said “we learned so much as a business about what works and what doesn’t” when discussing the Sun’s failed paywall which had peaked at 225,000 subscribers.
He went on to say that the next two years would see the company go down a different route and added “advertising alone is not going to save you. You have to find other revenue streams and business models to support newspapers in the future.”