The UK tabloid has announced that it is asking readers to subscribe for exclusive features.
The Sun has introduced a new paid content strategy a decade after it abandoned a previous attempt at a paywall.
The new Sun Club, which will require readers to pay for access to exclusive features, including columns by popular contributors such as Jeremy Clarkson and content from Dear Deidre, its agony aunt. It will officially launch on Tuesday at an introductory price of £1.99 per month.
The Sun says its club will provide members with “no-holds-barred access” to selected premium content, including exclusive video segments from its Royal Exclusive programme and columns from well-known writers like Rod Liddle and celebrity commentator Jane Moore. The subscription also includes perks such as access to longstanding promotional travel offers previously limited to print edition readers or those subscribed to its digital edition at £6.99 a month.
Victoria Newton, editor-in-chief of The Sun, said: “The Sun has always offered readers more than a paper. Sun Club will help us expand our offer to audiences even further.” This shift seeks to diversify revenue streams amidst increasing competition from free online news sources.
The introduction of Sun Club follows the successful launch of a paywall model for the Mail titles. Last January the Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday implemented a partial paywall strategy with the launch of Mail+, a service that charges £4.99 a month for access to a limited number of exclusive articles and content across various sections, including entertainment and investigations. As of November last year, Mail+ reported attracting 100,000 subscribers.
The Sun’s main website had remained free to access since December 2015, following the abandonment of a hard paywall that had previously been implemented. The initial foray into subscription content began in August 2013 when the tabloid experimented with a service that included access to Premier League football highlights.
The service suffered exceptionally high churn as subscribers found the exclusives they were promised as subscribers were freely available within minutes on other news sites. The Premier League clips fell victim to rampant piracy on social media which reduced the value of the exclusive deal.
The Sun’s new offer, however, both reflects the need of publishers to find more than one revenue stream online and also is an attempt to emulate the success of European tabloids, such as Bild in Germany, which have proved successful at developing reader revenues online.
Source: Noah Wire Services
- https://www.thesun.co.uk/ – This URL corroborates The Sun’s presence and its role as a major UK tabloid, which is relevant to the introduction of the Sun Club subscription model.
- https://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/article-11755095/Mail-launches-new-subscription-service-Mail.html – This URL supports the information about the Daily Mail’s Mail+ service, which is a similar subscription model to Sun Club.
- https://www.thetimes.co.uk/ – This URL highlights News UK’s successful paywall model for The Times, which serves as a precedent for The Sun’s new subscription strategy.
- https://www.pressgazette.co.uk/ – This URL provides general information on the UK media landscape and trends in subscription models, relevant to The Sun’s Sun Club initiative.
- https://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/press/the-sun-paywall-digital-subscription-b1799756.html – This URL discusses The Sun’s past experiences with paywalls and its shift towards new subscription models, aligning with the Sun Club strategy.
- https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64464458 – This URL offers insights into the broader challenges faced by the newspaper industry in terms of digital transformation and revenue diversification.
Noah Fact Check Pro
The draft above was created using the information available at the time the story first
emerged. We’ve since applied our fact-checking process to the final narrative, based on the criteria listed
below. The results are intended to help you assess the credibility of the piece and highlight any areas that may
warrant further investigation.
Freshness check
Score:
10
Notes:
The narrative is current, referencing recent events and initiatives, such as the launch of Sun Club and comparisons to other recent subscription models.
Quotes check
Score:
8
Notes:
Victoria Newton’s quote is included, but no earlier source could be found online. This suggests it might be an original quote from this publication.
Source reliability
Score:
9
Notes:
The narrative originates from The Guardian, a well-established and reputable news outlet.
Plausability check
Score:
9
Notes:
The claims about The Sun’s new subscription model and industry trends are plausible and align with current challenges faced by news publishers.
Overall assessment
Verdict (FAIL, OPEN, PASS): PASS
Confidence (LOW, MEDIUM, HIGH): HIGH
Summary:
The narrative is fresh, well-supported by a reliable source, and the claims are plausible. The only area for improvement is verifying the originality of the included quote.
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