Subscription prices for metered sites have risen 36% in the past two years, according to Press+, which made data on its 450 clients available last week.That 36% increase only resulted in a $0.26 difference, since price points for consumer news are historically the lowest among all subscriptions sites .
The data also showed that the average limit on free access had decreased to eight articles or less a month. And more than half of Press+ users allow only five articles or less.The growth in online subscriptions for metered news sites seems to be a pervasive trend, with The New York Times (*not* a Press+ client) reporting 738,000 digital subscriptions by the end of Q2, a nearly 40% increase from the same time last year. Revenue from digital subscriptions rose 44% to $38.3 million.Meanwhile, The Sun recently installed a metered paywall of its own. However, likely because they are new to the digital subscription industry, the UK’s best-selling tabloid has set its free access meter at a generous 20 articles per month, and set pricing at £2 ($3) a week, which includes bundled access to tablet and mobile apps.However, before launching its paywall, The Sun bought exclusive mobile and online rights to clips and highlights for all 380 English Premier League games from next season. While this cost the paper more than £30 million, sports enthusiasts are often the easiest consumer audience to convert. An analysis in the Guardian claimed that The Sun will need 300,000 digital subscribers to break-even, but with a readership of 7.3 million in print, The Sun may be able to do better than that.
