The number of digital subscribers to The Times and The Sunday Times has exceeded 100,000, one year after News International imposed a paywall on the two news sites.
The Times and The Sunday Times has 101,036 current, monthly digital subscribers as of the end of June, up from 79,000 on 28 February 2011, an increase of 28%. This includes subscribers to all digital channels: the websites, the iPad and the Kindle.
The Times is downloaded onto an average of 35,000 iPads every day, an increase of 40% in the 4 months since February.
The average for The Sunday Times is 31,000, an increase of 41%. Digital and 7 day print subscribers all have access to the iPad edition and this figure also includes those who have subscribed directly through Apple.
In total there are more than 250,000 joint print/digital and digital-only subscribers to The Times and The Sunday Times at the end of June, representing almost half of The Times sale.
Rebekah Brooks said: “One year on from launch we have proved that people are willing to pay for quality journalism in digital formats. Many doubted if our digital strategy would be successful, here is unequivocal proof it is moving in that direction. We have more committed subscribers than ever before and they are choosing to access our journalism in whatever format suits them best. The growth rate for take up on tablets is moving at pace and we believe this valuable and attractive audience accessing our digital products will continue to grow.”
The Times and The Sunday Times iPad apps are available as part of a digital subscription, £2 for a week. The Times iPad app is also available direct from iTunes at £9.99 for a month while The Sunday Times app is available direct from iTunes for £1.79 a week.
A new iPhone and Android phone app launched for The Times earlier this week. It is currently free for a short period and it will later be included in the digital subscription package.
