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News Corp’s Daily Telegraph raises price of eNewspaper app by 320 per cent

Daily Telegraph Sydney tabloid The Daily Telegraph has raised the subscription price of its digital newspaper replica app by more than 300 per cent, from $6.49 a month to $19.99.

The price rises sees the price of monthly subscription to the PDF replica of the newspaper, which is accessible through iTunes, fall into line with the price of a digital subscription to the newspaper which is $20.00.

News Corp Australia declined to comment on the price rise but it is understood that subscriptions to the app make a small proportion of overall digital subscriptions.

The last major rise in Daily Telegraph digital subscription prices was at the end of April this year when the price went from $4 a week to $5 a week. The subscription increase is just for The Daily Telegraph press reader app as the other newspapers do not have separate eNewspaper apps.

National broadsheet The Australian also raised its digital subscription price earlier this year from $3 to $6 a week for new customers and has in recent weeks been emailing them to inform them that they would also be impacted by the price hike.

In an email to readers editor-in-chief Chris Mitchell wrote: “We are committed to continually improving your experience and sometimes this means increasing our prices. From 8 October 2014, the price of your subscription will change to $6 a week (billed as $24 every 4 weeks). This change will happen automatically so you don’t need to do a thing.”

News Corp has consistently refused to release its digital subscriber numbers for many of its biggest print titles including The Daily Telegraph, Courier Mail and Adelaide Advertiser. At present it only releases numbers for the Herald Sun and The Australian.

Last week Mumbrella revealed News Corp had taken down the paywall for its Perth Now news website, the first time News Corp Australia has removed a pay barrier since they were introduced to all its major newspaper brand mastheads in the middle of last year.

Nic Christensen 

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