Toronto Star to remove paywall from site, launch tablet version

The Star started charging readers of its online version in 2013

The Toronto Star plans to terminate its digital paywall in 2015 – just in time for the scheduled release of its tablet edition.

During the Q3 2014 earning’s conference call, David Holland, CEO and owner of the Star, said that the reason for this change is to increase the publication’s reach amongst other audiences.

“This is an important strategic step forward for the Star and for Torstar as we commit to our future of cross-platform, a future that we recognize will be more mobile,” Holland said during the call.

Torstar will be working with La Presse, a Montreal publication, which had success with its own tablet product.

“We are encouraged and impressed with La Presse, which has attracted a highly engaged younger audience,” John Cruickshank, publisher of the Star and president of Star Media Group, said during the conference call.

Torstar intends to spend $10 to $12 million in 2015 on the product.

About this article

By: Hassan Mohamud
Copy editor: Jeremy Hon
Posted: Nov 7 2014 5:58 pm
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Filed under: News