The Tampa Bay Times is “changing” its subscription options. In an email, CEO Paul Tash announced the new “Total Access” package that allows subscribers to get both the print edition and unlimited access to the paper’s web content.
“We are bundling what had been separate subscriptions – print and digital – into a combined and convenient package,” Tash wrote in an email to subscribers.
What the “Total Access” plan means is, those who choose to have paper delivery to their home or office can now also have digital access to online material instead of having a separate digital subscription.
According to Tash’s email, those subscribers don’t necessarily need to do anything to update their account and will be automatically enrolled in the new bundle.
“Devotees of the printed newspaper – and I count myself among them – have nothing to fear,” Tash wrote. “You still choose how often you want the Times delivered to your door, along with the digital replica of the print edition delivered every day to your computer or mobile device.”
However, not everything is bundled. The “Total Access” package starts at $2.25 per week depending on whether subscribers choose daily, weekend or Sunday delivery. That package includes unlimited web access as well as a handful of other features the Times is pushing including a mobile app and e-newsletter. It’s also now including a year digital subscription to the Washington Post.
But, subscribers don’t have to have paper delivery to enjoy all the other tech features. A digital access pass is still available starting at $2.00 a week.
Or you can turn on private browsing for free. Just sayin’.
With fewer and fewer people reading the news with a folded paper in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other, it makes sense that papers like the Tampa Bay Times are moving toward digital subscriptions. Circulation of newspapers in actual print is dwindling while access to digital content is exploding.
What’s shocking here is that the Times is just now getting around to rewarding what print subscribers it has with digital access included in their paper delivery service. After all, even Grandpa Joe is learning how to work the Google and may want to read breaking news on the Times’ website every now and again.
