Business portal BDLive has temporarily turned off its paywall while it synchronises its systems following the launch of its Sunday Times Plus service.<\/p>\n
A number of users reported having unlimited to access to content on the site this week, bringing into question whether the portal had removed its paywall completely, or was dealing with a technical glitch.<\/p>\n
Outside of its subscription plans BDLive offers a “free” package – which is open to registered users – which allows users to read a total of 15 articles “for free” every 30 days, before being hit with a prompt to subscribe.<\/p>\n
However, several readers reported being able to view far past 15, even 30 articles on the site, with no redirection to a subscription page, nor a notification warning that a limit is being reached.<\/p>\n
According to BDLive, the paywall version of the site was pulled down after the launch of Sunday Times Plus – the paid-for online version of the Sunday Times.<\/p>\n
“[The launch] impacted our entire User Management system we warned users of BDLive and our other sites that login functionality would be impacted over launch,” the portal said.<\/p>\n
“We have kept the paywalled version off but allowed users to comment and have access while we synchronise the rest of our systems.”<\/p>\n
BDLive gave no indication as to when the systems would be updated and the paywall put back up.<\/p>\n
BDLive first implemented a paywall in May 2013, with a subscription plan that many commentators said was far too expensive – charging up to R5,292 for 12 months of access.<\/p>\n
BDLive is one of several South African publications to use a paywall to fence off content – others include Beeld, Die Burger, and The Sunday Times.<\/p>\n
According to PwC’s Entertainment and Media Outlook: 2014-2018, revenues for digital newspapers in South Africa have remained low; however, a “growing number” of titles which have created paywalls have been able to maximise revenue from digital content.<\/p>\n
At the time of the paywall launch, former Business Day publisher and editor-in-chief Peter Bruce said that he didn\u2019t care how many people subscribed to the newspaper\u2019s online edition.<\/p>\n
\u201cBasically it means nothing is for free, that\u2019s all\u2026that\u2019s my bottom line. I don\u2019t care how many people subscribe. It\u2019s gratifying that so many have, but as long as I am not giving away content for free, I\u2019m a happy man,\u201d said Bruce.<\/p>\n
Bruce stepped down from his position in March 2014, relinquishing the role of editor to senior associate editor Songezo Zibi.<\/p>\n
The former editor maintained that most people visiting the site would not view more than 15 articles a month – which is why the group offered that figure “for free”.<\/p>\n
However, the paywall was highly criticised for its high prices – R14.50 a day at launch, which amounted to R5,292 for a year.<\/p>\n
BDLive has since launched a cheaper subscription option – a digital-only plan for R175 a month.<\/p>\n
SA media paywall prices compared<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Paywall: there will be casualties<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n