Toronto Star scrapped digital paywall as it was ‘expensive’ and had a ‘high churn’ rate

May 11, 2015 11:43

Julie Murtha speaking at the INMA World Congress in New York

Executives from the Toronto Star have admitted paywalls did not work for them and said promoting stories inside the newspaper is a waste of time, arguing the space can better be used for editorial or advertising.

Addressing the International News Media Association (INMA) World Congress in New York today, Julie Murtha, director of audience and innovation at one of Canada’s biggest daily broadsheet newspapers, the Toronto Star, said their experience led them to question whether stories promoted on the front page increased print readership or sales.

“We recently measured the value of front page editorial promotion”, Murtha told the room. “The results actually surprised us – sky boxes and pointers do not affect readership, if a reader reads a section, they probably read the story whether it was promoted on the front page or not.

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Nic Christensen

Nic Christensen worked for Mumbrella from 2013 to 2016, in roles including deputy editor and media & technology editor. He is former media writer for The Australian and has also worked as a reporter for The Daily Telegraph and senior producer for Radio 2GB.

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