USA Today is considering putting up a pay wall and charging
visitors to its website, according to the NY Post.
“We’re going to look at it,” Larry Kramer, president and
publisher, said in a interview after his appearance at an Advertising Week
panel on Wednesday.
Among the big three national newspapers, the Wall Street
Journal and the New York Times both have profitable pay walls erected around
their digital offerings.
USA Today has resisted the move, even though all the other
81 daily papers in the Gannett chain have erected some form of paid access.
“People are exploring it,” Kramer said. “The question is, if
we do it, what is the best way to do it.”
Kramer made his remarks just days before the steepest
newsstand hike in the paper’s history is slated to go into effect on Sept. 30,
when the single-copy price will rise to $2 from $1.
Circulation revenue at USA Today fell 12 percent in the most
recent quarter ending in June 30. Kramer conceded total circulation will fall
with the price hike but believes the shortfall in copies sold will be more than
offset by the increased revenue per copy.
USA Today, with total circulation of 1,674,306 including
print and digital editions, is the third largest daily in the country, after
losing its longtime number one slot to the Journal in 2009.
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