Last week the Salt Lake Tribune launched a premium membership program to offer subscribers the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free experience. For $9.99 a month, premium members can access an ad-free, digital version of the Salt Lake Tribune and get priority invites to monthly events. As an alternative, sustaining members can pay $4.99 a month to get early invitations and priority admission to those same events, but they’ll have to tolerate the ads.

Why the membership programs? The Salt Lake Tribune is trying to create an additional, voluntary revenue stream and to better engage with its audience in face-to-face events, like the August event planned with news columnist Paul Rolly. In a Q&A column explaining the program, editor Terry Orme said the membership revenue will go into The Tribune’s budget which supports staff and newsroom expenses.”…this is in response to a question I’m frequently asked, ‘why do you give your content away for free online?'” Orme explained. “Well, to those of you who have asked, here’s your chance to support Tribune journalism.”Non-members will still get free access to The Tribune’s website, but that version of the site will include advertising. Print subscribers will receive invitations to the events, but will have to pay extra to access the ad-free version of the site. At this time, The Tribune is not planning on creating a smartphone or tablet app, but Orme said the site’s new responsive design makes the ad-free version of the site “an attractive option” for reading content on mobile devices.As Nieman Lab points out in its analysis, The Tribune stands with other newspapers who are diversifying revenue streams to better retain and engage members. Some, like The Guardian, are presenting exclusive events to members, while others like the San Francisco Chronicle is offering both events and perks.Insider Take:With the increase in ad-blocker usage, it is smart for companies who rely on ad revenue to consider alternative revenue streams. A recent study done by ClarityRay shows that, on average, 9.26% of impressions are ad-blocked, but for some sites, that percentage can be as high as 50%!In this case, Orme points out that he does not anticipate the new program will have a significant effect on ad revenue, but even getting a small percentage of readers to sign up will have a big impact on the newsroom budget. At the same time, the premium members get something exclusive in exchange for their financial commitment.We’re not sure if an ad-free option will work for all papers, but we applaud The Tribune for being innovative and willing to take a risk. It has basically said, “We know our current model isn’t working. Let’s try something new.” The final proof will be if reader engagement increases, and the membership program yields results. If the program takes off, it could be copied by other media outlets willing to try something different.