Categories: Business

The Times Union has begun charging for some of its online content with the launch of a digital package called timesunionPLUS.

The digital bundle, rolled out at 2:15 p.m. Thursday, includes access to the Capital Region newspaper’s “best journalism plus an array of added benefits — all available only to subscribers,” publisher George Hearst III said in a Thursday letter to readers on www.timesunion.com.

“If you’re already a Times Union subscriber, you’re entitled to all the benefits of timesunionPLUS just by registering online,” Hearst said. “If you’re not yet a subscriber, you can sign up for timseunionPLUS for as little as $3 a week.”

Subscribers will have access to select investigative reporting, in-depth analysis and opinion pieces that will no longer be available on the free site, said Patti Hart, the newspaper’s director of cross-media business development. Breaking news, newswire content, photo galleries — including the “Seen” galleries of people at local events — blogs and other content will still be available on the free site, she said.

The number of stories available to subscribers only will be “under the judgment of the newsroom on a day-by-day basis,” Hart said.

“We wanted to create a bundle of premium content that would be available across multiple digital platforms that features the best work of our newsroom that was special for our subscribers,” she said.

The content will be offered on the newspaper’s website, mobile site, iPad app and eEdition. The bundle also comes with a daily special section called Section U on topics such as food, personal finance, health and travel; special offers from advertisers and chances to sign up for Times Union events and contests; a weekly newsletter emailed at night; and a video report on stories that will appear in the next day’s paper.

Todd Peterson, vice president of circulation, said the newspaper’s priority is to get print subscribers to activate timesunionPLUS “so they can see the new features.” He said he currently has no specific circulation goal for the new service.

“We expect to see a large increase in the amount of people using our digital product,” he said.

The newspaper’s most recent circulation numbers are 116,950 on Sundays, which includes 4,460 users of the electronic edition and iPad app, Peterson said. Daily circulation on weekdays is 60,287, which includes 9,488 digital users, he said.