View all newsletters
Sign up for our free email newsletters

Fighting for quality news media in the digital age.

  1. News
October 26, 2010updated 23 Aug 2022 7:22pm

Nielsen: Times getting 362,000 UK visitors behind the paywall

By admin

Since the paywalls went up on the websites of The Times and The Sunday Times owner News International has remained tight-lipped about the volume of traffic it has been generating – leading to a few wacky guesstimates about what might be going on.

However, web analytics firm Nielsen has today revealed the result of its own estimate of how many visitors are whizzing around those pages which are beyond the reach of the wider web.

Nielsen said that in the three months before the paywalls dropped on 2 July, the sites averaged a total of 3.1m UK visitors each month.

That figure has fallen to 1.8m on average each month throughout July, August and September – with an average of 362,000 monthly visitors behind the paywall.

The 362,000 figure – which includes online and print subscribers being given access online and those given a free demo – constitutes 20 per cent of the site’s total UK visitors in the period.

Nielsen figures suggest that four out of five visitors are turning up at the front door to find they are locked out of the party.

To establish these most recent numbers, Nielsen said it analysed how many people in the UK were accessing content behind the paywall and how this audience compares to the general Times audience

Content from our partners
MHP Group's 30 To Watch awards for young journalists open for entries
How PA Media is helping newspapers make the digital transition
Publishing on the open web is broken, how generative AI could help fix it

‘The analysis involved looking at the different URLs or sub domains within The Times’ website, visited by UK individuals from home or work computers. Therefore, our figures do not include visitors from outside the UK, visitors from mobile phones or UK people only visiting the site from internet cafés, airports or educational establishments.”

Topics in this article :

Email pged@pressgazette.co.uk to point out mistakes, provide story tips or send in a letter for publication on our "Letters Page" blog

Select and enter your email address Weekly insight into the big strategic issues affecting the future of the news industry. Essential reading for media leaders every Thursday. Your morning brew of news about the world of news from Press Gazette and elsewhere in the media. Sent at around 10am UK time. Our weekly does of strategic insight about the future of news media aimed at US readers. A fortnightly update from the front-line of news and advertising. Aimed at marketers and those involved in the advertising industry.
  • Business owner/co-owner
  • CEO
  • COO
  • CFO
  • CTO
  • Chairperson
  • Non-Exec Director
  • Other C-Suite
  • Managing Director
  • President/Partner
  • Senior Executive/SVP or Corporate VP or equivalent
  • Director or equivalent
  • Group or Senior Manager
  • Head of Department/Function
  • Manager
  • Non-manager
  • Retired
  • Other
Visit our privacy Policy for more information about our services, how New Statesman Media Group may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications.
Thank you

Thanks for subscribing.

Websites in our network