Tribune Publishing to Move to Metered Paywall in 2016

Tribune Publishing (NYSE: TPUB) – owner of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and other publications – announced that it

Tribune Publishing (NYSE: TPUB) – owner of the Los Angeles Times, the Chicago Tribune, The Baltimore Sun and other publications – announced that it would move all of its publications to a metered paywall model next year. The announcement came from Tribune digital chief Denise Warren, during the third quarter earnings call last week, says Politico.

Tribune Publishing to Move to Metered Paywall Model Next Year

The Tribune’s current model is a hard paywall where content is only available to subscribers. With a metered model, like the New York Times and the Boston Globe use, readers can read a certain number of articles for free each month before having to subscribe.Like other media organizations, the Tribune is trying to figure out the best model for its company and its readers. Some like the Irish Times, The Nation, The Street and EW.com are also trying metered paywalls, while others like The Sun are abandoning theirs. Other models we’ve seen over the last year include Winnipeg Free Press which is testing micropayments, The Guardian which is trying a membership program, and the Salt Lake Tribune which is now offering an ad-free option to subscribers.So far, no one has found the magic formula, and variations on the metered paywall and its relative success are unique to a given media outlet. For example, the New York Times has experienced significant growth, exceeding 1 million digital-only subscribers in August. That can’t be attributed specifically to the metered paywall. It has to do with a multitude of factors, including its marketing and promotional strategies.What can Tribune Publishing hope to achieve? It can hope to continue the positive subscriber trend it reported in its third quarter earnings report. In the third quarter of 2015, Tribune Publishing grew its total digital subscribers to 715,000, a 19% increase over the prior year, and its digital-only subscribers increased by 81,000, a 37% increase, year-over-year. This is the step in the right direction, but will it be enough to reverse a $3 million loss in the third quarter?In related news, Tribune Publishing has expressed interest in purchasing the Orange County Register which filed for bankruptcy last week, according to the Los Angeles Times.Insider Take:Tribune Publishing has a lot going on. It needs to have a solid plan in place to successfully shift its business model to a metered paywall in 2016 and to avoid suffering any additional losses. Adjusting its paywall structure is perhaps the easiest part of the change. The tricky part will be implementing the change without losing readers. We hope the Tribune will clearly and openly communicate the pending changes to its subscribers, including the timing and reasons for the change.One plus for the Tribune is having Denise Warren in charge of the change. Though new to the company, Warren was previously the head of digital at the New York Times, so she knows a thing or two about how paywalls work.~ Dana E. Neuts, Subscription Insider      

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