BusinessLIVE launches digital subscription packages
The tongue-in-cheek ad campaign to announce the paywall and subscription packages, conceptualised by BBDO, captures the zeitgeist of the moment: addressing the proliferation of fake news in the run-up to the Trump election, and the flight to quality, trusted publications as a result.
Ray Hartley, editor of BusinessLIVE, says: “In a world where 'alternative facts' and fake news are undermining the trustworthiness of the media, more and more readers are turning to our trusted media brands to provide them with accurate, well-informed insight into current affairs.”
BusinessLIVE, the business news website launched late last year by Times Media, consolidates content from Business Day, the Financial Mail, the Sunday Times’s Business Times and Rand Daily Mail in one site, with online-only content published round the clock.
“Much of our content, including our running coverage of the day’s business news, remains free but we have worked hard to create for our subscribers a package of exclusive news and comment from our own titles and our international news and data partners,” says Hartley.
About BL Premium (R120 per month)
“BL Premium will bring you the top columnists from our business titles – including writers such as Justice Malala, Jonathan Jansen, Tim Cohen, Steven Friedman, Rob Rose, Ron Derby and Aubrey Matshiqi – and the top news. This will include exclusive access to the full Business Day front-page lead every day, the Financial Mail cover story every week, and the best news from the Business Times,” says Hartley.
Included in the monthly subscription is a daily selection of the best international business writing from the Financial Times, FT.com, and in-depth financial data from trusted provider Morningstar.
All existing subscribers to the print editions of Business Day and Financial Mail will have free access to this premium package. For these subscribers to activate their BL Premium digital subscriptions, they should click on a BusinessLIVE article marked ‘Premium’ and complete the registration form using the same email address used when they first subscribed. They’ll then automatically gain access to the BL Premium offering.
Non-print subscribers can gain full access to ‘Premium’ online articles through a BL Premium subscription of only R120 per month. New subscribers will pay only R10 for their first month’s access when they sign up to BL Premium.
About BL Premium Plus (R349 per month)
The BL Premium Plus package, at R349 a month, will provide everything included in BL Premium, as well as full digital access daily to The Wall Street Journal, WSJ.com, and e-editions (online copies of the print products) of Business Day and the Financial Mail.
Hartley concludes by adding, “Hiring the best writers, columnists and editors costs money and there is no sustainable way to bring you this level of writing without charging for it. We have decided to charge a reasonable rate to make our full content offering available to as many readers as possible.”
Special packages for corporate subscribers and pensioners are also on offer.