The Australian refreshes website and introduces metering of free content
National broadsheet The Australian has today unveiled a refresh on the masthead’s mobile and web pages, as part of an overhaul which has also seen changes to its pricing and the introduction of limited metering on the website.
Under the changes the price of a digital subscription increases to $4 a week and sees the newspaper introduce a “hybrid-metered” model which will limit the number of “unlocked” articles non-subscribers can read to 5 per week.
Since late 2011, the newspaper has had a “freemium” paywall, which combines some free “unlocked” content with other content requiring a paid subscription.
“As we have always said, we will experiment with different approaches to digital subscriptions. Obviously we are keen to drive subscriptions further and so will be testing this hybrid approach,” said a News Corp Australia spokesman.
A “hybrid-metered” model? Catchy. I can only imagine the consumer marketing campaign around that one…..
Is that a composite of electrical shocks and gasoline burns?
My suggestion to Rupert is that he save money and just get Chris Mitchell to write all the stories and opinion. He can use different names. It would save a fortune and maintain the same high standards and diversity.
I sed to buy The Australian every day. But as it moved further and further to the Right I struggled to justify the cost. I no longer miss reading it and I feel better for it.