News Limited to launch digital subscription packages for The Australian from October

The chief executive of The Australian and News Digital Media, Richard Freudenstein, today announced that The Australian will be introducing digital subscription packages from October this year.

To coincide with the introduction of digital subscriptions, The Australian will be launching a redesigned website and a new ‘m-site’, a site specifically designed for mobile phones.

The Australian will use a ‘freemium’ subscription model, offering a mix of free and subscription-only content across its digital properties. Non-subscribers will be able to read extensive general content across the website and m-site, but The Australian’s large amount of unique, premium, content will only be available to subscribers*.

The Australian will be launching a number of subscription packages, covering print and digital –

A full digital subscription giving access to The Australian’s entire website, iPad and Android apps, and m-site will cost just $2.95 per week.

Existing six day a week print subscribers, who pay $6.95 per week, will receive a complimentary digital subscription.

Freudenstein said that the introduction of digital subscriptions heralded the start of a new economic model for Australian newspapers.

“News Corporation’s global business has been built on the strength of its content – content that attracts, entertains, inspires and informs large audiences.

“The Australian is this country’s best and most influential news brand. Every day editor Chris Mitchell and his team sets the news agenda with its world-class journalism.

“We believe that The Australian journalism has real value online as well as in print, and extensive research suggests our readers agree.

“The introduction of subscription packages will not only open up a new and important revenue stream, but also give us a much closer, more valuable, relationship with our most loyal and engaged readers.”

Since Rupert Murdoch announced News Corporation’s intentions to launch digital subscriptions in 2009, at least 50 newspapers around the world have begun charging for online journalism.

Recent publications to introduce digital subscriptions include The Times and Sunday Times of London and The New York Times. Both publications announced successful launches, with The Times and Sunday Times recently revealing that they are now growing overall print and digital circulation.