The Wall Street Journal Finds A Subscription In Your Pocket

September 23rd, 2009

Now that everyone’s addicted to their CrackBerry, it’s time to pay the suppliers.

Rupert Murdoch, Chairman and CEO of NewsCorp., announced on Tuesday that the company would start charging a fee for users of its Wall Street Journal mobile application.
The move was in response to a continued industry-wide struggle to raise money by selling advertising and subscriptions to the newspaper’s website.
The new weekly access fees will affect most users of the mobile application, which is available for BlackBerry, iPhone, and iPod Touch.

Mobile application access will be free for users who subscribe to both print and web editions of the Journal; non-subscribers will pay $2/week for access; print-only subscribers will pay $1/week.
In a similar move, The New York Times recently asked its subscribers if they would pay a $2.50 monthly fee for Web access.
In terms of circulation, USA Today is the largest newspaper with 2.11 million subscribers; The Wall Street Journal is second with 2.08 million subscribers; the New York Times is third largest with 1.04 million.