Crain’s to launch online paywall
Crain’s Chicago Business will launch a metered subscription plan for its ChicagoBusiness.com starting June 14, following the Daily Herald and the Chicago Sun-Times in the Chicago and suburban market.
ChicagoBusiness.com’s new plan offers subscribers full access to all of Crain’s content, including stories, video and blog posts, the complete weekly issue, plus 15 years of Crain’s archives, the company said.
“We have enhanced the user experience and instituted a subscription model that is current and fair. It satisfies the power user’s need for deeper Crain’s content while leaving other users’ access to the site unaffected,” Crain’s Publisher David Snyder said in a statement.
Crain’s has been charging for the weekly print issue online since 2001. But with this new plan, all users will be able to view up to 12 Crain’s articles per month at no charge and after that will be asked to pay $59 for an annual digital subscription. Current digital subscribers will see no change in their subscription rate.
New combined print and digital subscriptions will now be available for $99 annually. For a limited time, current Crain’s print subscribers will be able to upgrade their subscriptions to include digital access free.
Several newspapers nationwide, including The New York Times, charge readers for online content or offer combination packages for both print and online products.
The Daily Herald, owned by Arlington Heights-based Paddock Publications Inc., was a leader in the Chicago and suburban market when it initiated an online subscription program last September.
The Daily Herald Subscriber Total Access program includes access to all Daily Herald content through a variety of platforms, in print and digitally. Subscribers also receive ongoing access to special events and daily email news alerts and updates. Nonsubscribers continue to be able to view up to 15 pages every 30 days online.
Last December, the Chicago Sun-Times started a paywall for online content.
Under the Sun-Times program, website users are allowed up to 20 free page views from all Sun-Times Media newspaper sites every 30 days. If a reader wishes to access more than 20 pages during any 30 day period, he or she is asked to sign up for an online subscription, the company had said.
Besides the Chicago Sun-Times, holdings include the Beacon-News (Aurora), The Courier-News (Elgin), The Herald-News (Joliet), Lake County News-Sun (Gurnee), Post-Tribune (Merrillville, Ind.) and the SouthtownStar (Chicago Heights).