Time and Sports Illustrated announce introduction of paywalls

Two leading magazines, Time and Sports Illustrated are launching paywalls for their digital offerings as the media industry looks to become less reliant on advertising dollars — an already struggling revenue stream hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic. Time magazine, owned billionaire Marc Benioff, just revealed its $2.99-a-month digital subscription in a letter to readers, with editor-in-chief and chief executive officer Edward Felsenthal telling them the company can continue producing great journalism for readers on all platforms for another 100 years. Currently, Time has two million paying subscribers across the print magazine and its Time for Kids educational product, according to a company source.

On other side, Sports Illustrated, operated by Maven Inc. under license from Authentic Brands Group, unveiled its digital $5.99-a-month metered paywall. To add the magazine will cost $7.99. Content from FanNation, its network of team-specific sites, and SI Swimsuit posts will be outside of the paywall. Sports Illustrated attracted its largest monthly audience ever in January on SI.com.