Johnston Press, the UK’s second-largest regional newspaper publisher, is considering other methods for customers to pay for access to their internet editions after an online trial ended. John Fry, chief executive of the publishing house, made the comments after a trading update in which Johnston said its performance in April was a little more subdued, […]
Johnston Press, the UK’s second-largest regional newspaper publisher, is considering other methods for customers to pay for access to their internet editions after an online trial ended. John Fry, chief executive of the publishing house, made the comments after a trading update in which Johnston said its performance in April was a little more subdued, primarily due to the impact of the general election.
Edinburgh-based Johnston Press runs The Scotsman publications and other newspapers and websites around the UK and EIRE. Last year, Johnston experimented with making customers pay for the specialist local news interest it supplies at three local titles.
13/05/2010
Fry said that although classified advertising held up and circulation was unchanged, display advertising fell and he described the payment method on the internet as “too clunky”.
Instead, the group has launched an application on the Apple iPhone for The Scotsman, which has more than 1,000 subscribers and is attracting 70-80 people a day.
He also said the group would wait to see the outcome of News Corp’s plans to charge for titles such as The Times. “We’re open minded but our forecasts assume no revenues,” he said.
