Valley Morning Star to use online edition to boost subscription values

HARLINGEN — The Valley Morning Star has been selected to be the first newspaper in a Freedom Communications’ initiative to use its online edition to boost readers’ subscription values.

Readers who now subscribe seven days a week to the printed newspaper will have free unlimited access to the online edition, www.valleystar.com.

These subscribers will need only to register online for full access to the Web site that provides regular news updates throughout the day, as well as video and other features.

"It will allow greater value to our many loyal print-edition subscribers by not giving away the news to non-subscribers," Valley Morning Star Publisher Tyler Patton said.

"The days of giving content away, which costs money to create and for which we charge our print subscribers, I think, are just over," he said.

Readers who prefer to obtain their news online will be able to subscribe for an online-only edition, with all the daily news updates, video and other features, Patton said.

The Star was chosen to inaugurate Freedom Communications’ online initiative for the frequency of its daily updates to www.valleystar.com and its adoption of other online-only features, which this year has resulted several times in a million or more online page views per month.

Beginning Wednesday, charges for full online access will apply to weekend subscribers, Sunday subscribers and non-subscribers.

"It’s something that’s being looked at in this industry by virtually every newspaper company," Patton said.

The charge for weekend subscribers who want full online access will be $3.16 per month.

Sunday-only subscribers will be charged $3.56 per month for an online edition in addition to the Sunday newspaper.

Full online-only access will be available for $3.95 per month.

Daily online subscriptions are available for 75 cents. Readers can pay for their online editions by credit card at the Valley Morning Star Web site.

Readers with annual subscriptions will be charged a rate equal to 10 months at their monthly online subscription rate.

Paid online subscriptions will include access to all areas of the Valley Morning Star Web site including local stories, local images and breaking news.

Many Web features including the Valley Morning Star homepage, national news, obituaries classified sections and Brightcove video will continue to be free for anyone who visits the site.

"We will be the first ones at Freedom (Communications Inc.) to do this," Patton said. "But we certainly won’t be the last."