Herald Sun looks to drive digital subscriptions with footy and crime
News Limited has continued its push towards a paywall strategy with Victorian masthead The Herald Sun becoming the first of the publisher’s tabloids to make the leap.
Late last year News Limited broadsheet The Australian switched on its paywall. The company said today that it would share information on the title’s move to digital subscriptions “soon”. It follows last week’s release by Fairfax Media of data on its digital audiences.
The Herald Sun’s digital subs strategy kicks off next month. No information on pricing has yet been released. The company said it would kick off with a two month free trial before a move to a freemium model with a mixture of free and premium content.
The offering will be driven by new offerings sitting alongside a new website and mobile site and updated iPad app.
They include SuperFooty Live HQ as an AFL companion and an expanded crime section called TrueCrimeScene.
Herald & Weekly Times managing director Peter Blunden said: “Victorians have been turning to the Herald Sun as the most popular and most trusted source of news for generations; we are now providing the tools to see this continue in the decades ahead – whenever and wherever readers desire.”
He added: “The paper’s core business is, and always will be, publishing great journalism and we will continue investing in that journalism – on any platform – to remain relevant and engaging for the long term.”
The launch will be supported by a marketing campaign across TV, press and digital which the company says is worth more than $5 million.
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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if a paywall will discourage people from reading the herald-sum, then bring it on!
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it’s hard to read the free online site let alone pay to view that clunky site
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