Wall Street Journal to Begin Charging for Mobile Access to Content

[MacRumors]

The Wall Street Journal today announced that it will begin charging for mobile access to its news content as of October 24th. While mobile applications such as the WSJ's iPhone application will remain free of charge and will offer free access to selected content, full access will require a weekly subscription fee.

Beginning Oct. 24, the WSJ Mobile Reader application, currently available on BlackBerry smartphones and Apple iPhone and iPod touch devices, will require a separate mobile subscription for full access to Journal subscription content. The application itself will remain free to download and contain both free and subscription content, emulating the experience found on WSJ.com.

Users who currently subscribe to both the print and online versions of The Wall Street Journal will continue to have free access to mobile content, but other users will be required to pay fees in order to access the majority of content. Users with either an existing online or print subscription to The Wall Street Journal will be required to pay $1.00 per week for mobile access, while those with no other subscriptions will be charged $2.00 per week. Users who register prior to the October 24th launch will receive a 90-day extension of no-fee access.

In addition to the new subscription offering, several new features will be added to the WSJ Mobile Reader, including advanced save and share functions, enhanced market data, stock tracking and personalization capabilities.

"Our new mobile subscription model will enable us to continue to invest in the world's most essential news content and deliver it to our subscribers wherever and whenever they want it," said Gordon McLeod, president of The Wall Street Journal Digital Network. "This transition also reinforces the value of our content on mobile, just as we've done online for more than a decade."

Article Link: Wall Street Journal to Begin Charging for Mobile Access to Content

 

[Scooterman1]

I guess they dream of making more money.
For me, USA Today App will remain my choice.

 

[Sky Blue]

Not interested in reading Rupert Murdoch's old tat.

 

[Cybbe]

Ah, the old bait and switch. Not too much bait though, as the WSJ is useless.

 

[JangoFett124]

A new "share" feature for paying customers? So you'd be paying to be able to send to people that can't? I know there's probably something I'm missing, but it's still funny to me.

 

[BornAgainMac]

Wow, I just accidentally deleted the app.

 

[caligurl]

i'll be getting my news elsewhere... for free....

 

[savoirfaire]

i'll be getting my news elsewhere... for free....

For a second I thought your username was callgurl. My bad. 😱

 

[scirica]

Calendar entry made...delete WSJ app on October 23rd...

 

[spillproof]

Eh, I've used the app twice in 6 months, so I guess it doesn't matter to me much. haha.

 

[caligurl]

For a second I thought your username was callgurl. My bad. 😱

😱 oh my! lol!

 

[intrepid00]

Only old people read the WSJ. I really don't want to subsadize thier paper subscription.

 

[carmenodie]

They can kiss my a** every which tell sunday. 4 bucks a month for that trash when the internet has limitless access to the same info FOR FREE!???

 

[vjl323]

And Apple doesn't mind?

Curious that Apple isn't getting a cut of this. Normally apps that are free can not require a cost inside the app to access more content. Only paid apps are allowed to have an in-app payment system. Obviously WSJ is not using an in-app payment system, but what they are doing is making more content available to users who pay them directly. That is not allowed in the iPhone SDK.

 

[danredwing]

obsolete

With all of the content available online these days, it is awfully presumptuous to charge for online access to what everyone else offers for free. I too, will be deleting the app as the content is redundant. As someone that is employed in financial services, I find that even economic news can be found just as easily and earlier elsewhere.

good luck with this WSJ, I'm certainly not buying.

 

[-aggie-]

Charging for news? GLWT.

 

[Runt888]

Curious that Apple isn't getting a cut of this. Normally apps that are free can not require a cost inside the app to access more content. Only paid apps are allowed to have an in-app payment system. Obviously WSJ is not using an in-app payment system, but what they are doing is making more content available to users who pay them directly. That is not allowed in the iPhone SDK.

I was curious about this also.

 

[Shookster]

I guess WSJ will find out just how much people think their online content is worth. My prediction: not nearly as much as they thought.

 

[Lara F]

Hopefully they'll allow more than 3 articles per month (no joke) ala the Financial Times app for non subscribers. 🙄

 

[synth3tik]

Well, so I guess now not the time to start reading the WSJ?

Most news sites are so littered with adverts that I could only see this move by WSJ as greed.

 

[Teh Don Ditty]

I subscribe online to WSJ.com only. I noticed my subscription is increasing to almost $200 next year.

You can kiss my ass Murdoch.

 

[ZipZap]

Well since you are only seeing limited content with the free app...I can see why it does not get used.

I find the WSJ hard to read as a newspaper let alone as an Iphone app...though I do like the financial content.

I am sure I can find the information for free so I likely will not signup for the full access.

 

[Baron58]

Now that they're essentially a Republican shill, I don't even want them for free.

 

[Teh Don Ditty]

^So true. It's amazing to see how the quality of the WSJ has declined since Murdoch bought it.

 

[-aggie-]

I subscribe online to WSJ.com only. I noticed my subscription is increasing to almost $200 next year.

You can kiss my ass Murdoch.

You'd like that too much. 🙂