The new websites of The Times and Sunday Times will implement paid-for access from tomorrow.
News International, the British newspaper wing of Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, is charging £1 for a day’s access to both sites or £2 for a week’s subscription.
The company said today that as an introductory offer all customers registering for the new websites will be granted 30 days access to both sites for a one-off charge of £1.
Access to the sites will be included in the seven-day subscriptions of print customers to The Times and The Sunday Times.
Tomorrow’s switch will mark completion of the first phase of the plan to charge for access to all News Corp newspaper websites, as outlined by Rupert Murdoch last summer.
Paid-for access comes after a month-long trial period of free access for registered users which was introduced following the launch of the new sites on 25 May.
News International turned off its old Times Online website in the middle of last month, three weeks after it launched the new sites, thetimes.co.uk and thesundaytimes.co.uk.
Rebekah Brooks, chief executive of News International, said: ‘We have been very pleased with the response from readers since the launch of the new websites for The Times and The Sunday Times in May.
The new sites showcase our award-winning journalism in a very visual way, giving readers exclusive content and interactivity so that they can get even more from the news.
‘We believe the new sites offer real value and we look forward to continuing to invest and innovate for readers.”
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