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The Sun claims 225,000 digital subscribers bringing total paid-for sale to 2.2m

By William Turvill

The Sun claims to have more than doubled its digital subscribers to a total of 225,000 since the last release of paywall numbers a year ago.

The title has charged for all online content (which includes Premiership football highlights) since August 2013.

The 225,000 digital subscribers combine with a print sale of 1,978,000 in October to make a total paid-for circulation of 2.2m.

Sun editor David Dinsmore said: “These figures are a promising start to our ambitious plans to offer readers unrivalled content on every platform. They also confirm that customers will pay for digital content when it is original and of highest quality.”

News UK chief executive Mike Darcey said: "These figures are a powerful endorsement of our core strategy – providing the best product on every platform and leaving the customer to choose which format suits them.

"Our digital bundle is proving increasingly popular, ensuring that the total paid sales across print and digital combined are strong enough to ensure on-going investment in our future."

At a media reception this afternoon News UK revealed  that the 225,000 figure does not include  trial users and is 98 per cent made up of subscribers who pay £7.99 a month.

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The title also claims that there have been nearly 2m views of goal clips this football season on its Sun Goals app.

The Sun said this afternoon that more users watched Sun Goal clips from Leicester City's 5-3 victory over Manchester United earlier this season than were in the stadium – meaning a figure of more than 31,000.

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