Herald Sun prepares to turn on paywall
News Limited’s Herald Sun will tomorrow become the company’s first Australian tabloid to turn on a pay wall.
After a two month free trial, readers will be asked to pay $2.95 per week to access premium digital content.
Herald & Weekly Times MD Peter Blunden said: “The expansion of our business across multiple platforms will enable us to remain competitive for the long term.”
The publication is offering a number of subscription bundles including:
- $2.95 per week: full digital access to the Herald Sun, website, tablet app and mobile site
- $4.95 per week: full digital access plus newspaper delivery on Saturday and Sunday
- $5.95 per week: full digital access plus newspaper delivery Monday to Friday
- $8.95 per week: full digital access plus newspaper delivery every day
Six and seven day Herald Sun print subscribers are being offered a complimentary digital pass.
Similarly to sister title The Australian which launched a paywall in October, the Herald Sun is adopting a freemium model, with some content still available free.
But the Herald Sun’s columnists including Andrew Bolt, Mark Robinson, Terry McCrann, and Susie O’Brien will only be accessible to subscribers.
Other content will include the SuperFooty AFL and TrueCrimeScene sections.
Andrew Bolt only available to subscribers.
Sounds like everyone is a winner from this news.
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I’ll miss Tezza, though. With his ‘crap, crap, crap’ article last Tuesday, I reckon he officially became Australias Greatest Trollumist. Andrew gets all the attention, but Tezza really puts in the hard yards in persuit of the LOLs.
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The Bolter behind a wall? Just where he belongs.
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As an old age pensioner this was my daily reading. Until today’s show of thoughtfulness, I bought the Herald Sun twice a week, which will now cease.
I believe age pensioners should be exempted from this impost.
My only way to show my disgust is to cease buying the Herald Sun on Wednesdays and Fridays.
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I stopped reading the Australian when they did this and will do the same with the Herald Sun. TheAge are the winners here.
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You can put as much credibility in Blunden’s forecast as the judge did in the evidence he gave at the Guthrie trial: zero-to-not much.
They must be dancing jigs at Fairfax today
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Ok, no more reading of the Herald Sun online….my goodness, I will read the other papers in OZ and overseas.
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Hey, this might just work. Doctors could prescribe a digital pass to those patients with chronic bile duct problems. Andrew Bolt could be useful to humanity yet!
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2.95 a week is way over the top for something that was free til now. Stick it where its tightest HeraldSun!! Another day, another company, another deeper dig in everyones pocket for our rapidly dwindling disposable income! Does anyone remember how we called ourselves the lucky country? Now we’re just the gouged country!
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No, Herald-Sun, nooo!!
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wow..a paywall…thats like the council selling your weekly garbage back to you…
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If you want free alternatives to the HS, there’s always Today Tonight, trashy celeb blogs and crazy people on the train to check out.
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