The Quad City Times will begin charging for online content beginning September 20, a move expected since its parent company Lee Enterprises began switching to the paywall model at its other newspaper properties more than a year ago.
Unlimited online subscriptions to qctimes.com will be $5.95 per month, while current newspaper subscribers will pay $1.95 per month for unlimited access to the online site.
The newspaper web site will allow 15 "free" pages per month before blocking access. Associated Press news articles, photo galleries, breaking news, calendars and Iowa Hawkeye football and basketball articles will not count toward the 15-page limit.
More than a year ago, Lee began shifting to the "metered" paywall model for its online news sites, beginning with the Billings Gazette, The Missoulian, The Casper Star Tribune, the Montana Standard and the Helena Independent Record.
Lee has yet to move its largest newspaper, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (http://www.stltoday.com) to the paywall model.
The other daily newspaper serving the Quad-Cities, The Dispatch/Argus in Moline, switched its online site (qconline.com) to a similar paywall last April.
Lee – owner of 48 daily newspapers and joint owner of four others – announced last week it had agreed to sell its North County Times newspaper and digital media operations in Escondido, CA.
Manchester Freedom, LLC is an affiliate of MLIM Holdings, owner of the Union-Tribune San Diego. It will pay $11.95 million for the newspaper and online operations.
The North County Times serves northern San Diego and southwest Riverside counties, and its printed editions include The Californian in Temecula.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to reduce Lee's debt.
MLIM Holdings is owned by Douglas Manchester, a San Diego hotelier and developer. He purchased the U-T San Diego last year for $110 million.
