Since January 2011, the French-language daily newspaper Le Temps (paid circulation 44,450 copies, of which 89 percent are subscription copies) has been offering its Internet users a subscription to access the newspaper’s entire website or to sign up in order to continue to read 15 articles monthly free of charge. The first results of this offering are encouraging, according to Valérie Boagno, Chief Executive at the newspaper (see also the attached document in French for full details of the figures for the first six months of their paywall). The move to a pay-for product also marks the end of a paradox underlines Valérie Boagno: “We are coming from a historically evolved situation in which our subscribers saw the web bringing the same information, or even more, but for free. They welcome this new development because they have the feeling that the situation is more fair now.”

WAN-IFRA: Did the introduction of a paywall impact your advertising turnover?

Valérie Boagno: We are recording an overall drop in the number of page impressions of about 29 percent in 2011 compared to 2010 and of 16 percent in the number of unique visitors. But we are outperforming the rest of the market by achieving +52 percent advertising since January. This is happening at a time when there is a more general shift of advertising spend towards digital. But our move to pay-for is not undermining this positive trend. Having an identified audience, which has a certain attraction, is what is important for the advertisers.

WAN-IFRA: The first increases in the number of paying subscribers (+ 1000 new subscribers to the web offering) are interesting. But what is also really promising is the base of 93,500 users registered on the site (+47 percent since January).

Valérie Boagno: We have a net increase in web-only subscribers who pay about 240 euros annually. These are in addition to the some 900 users already subscribed to the site in order to access our epaper. The biggest increase comes from the number of Internet users who sign up to the website. Sooner or later, we think that they will run up against the paywall and feel the need to take out a subscription. We stay in contact with them. In the next weeks, we plan to offer them our new pay-for iPhone and iPad applications. These readers are not interested in print, hence the positive aspect is that there is no cannibalisation with the circulation of the daily newspaper. We also consider that the addition of mobile tools will enable the consumer to view a wider range that can then be charged at a higher rate. This additional offering should permit us to enhance the service and overcome the psychological barrier of the currently paid price.