Online Fairfax publications in New Zealand will be going behind a paywall, but when or how is still up for investigation, says the news organisation's head.



Acting managing director Andrew Boyle said paywalls here were only a matter of time.



"We've seen enough offshore in other publishing operations and we will learn a great deal from what happens at the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age as they launch.



"We're confident it forms a part of our future, we're not definitive on the timeline of it, but we're actively looking at how it can play a very important part of our future and our view."



He said it was a critical project, but it would not necessarily be the same as the Australian model.



His comments came after Fairfax Australia released details of its impending pay wall plans earlier today, and news of a fall in revenue for the current half year.



On July 2, major publications the Sydney Morning Herald and the Melbourne Age will both go behind a metered pay wall.



Readers in Australia, New Zealand and the south Pacific will have access to 30 articles a month, with payment required to access material after that.



Pricing ranged from A$15-$44 ($18-$53) per month, depending on the mix of newspaper and tablet access the consumer chose.



Boyle said some elements of the Australian model would have to be considered carefully for New Zealand.



"We've got to remember that we need to understand local markets... it may be some form of metered model but the real acid test is how we take things to the market."



He said that would not happen until Fairfax New Zealand (publisher of Stuff) was ready.



Extensive research was being carried out by the company and Boyle said any pay wall model here would have to be "the right plan, released at the right time".

Across the Tasman, managing director of Australian Publishing Media at Fairfax, Allen Williams said the philosophy was "that all of our publishing activities, regardless of whether they are print or digital, need to have a clear commercial rationale".

While introducing a paid model, Fairfax Australia has been keen to leave access free for most readers in order to maintain the company's digital dominance among Australian news sites.



In May, the SMH website and its mobile site attracted average daily unique browsers totalling almost 840,000 and The Age about 587,000. By contrast, rival News mastheads such as The Australian had just over 203,000 average daily UBs, the Herald Sun fewer than 345,000 and The Daily Telegraph about 243,000, according to Nielsen Market Intelligence.



Keeping it simple



Fairfax Australia will offer a range of packages starting at A$1 ($1.19) for the first month for full access to the websites and mobile sites of the SMH and Age, rising to between A$15-$44 per month after that, depending on the mix of newspaper delivery or tablet access subscribers choose.



Additional benefits for those paying include access to the new Zoom research tool for popular news topics such as Bob Hawke or the Melbourne Cup, interactive short books (such as AFL Footy Guide 2013 or Extraordinary travel experiences) and exclusive offers and invitations.



Those extras are intended as additional inducements to entice readers to subscribe.



Articles can also be shared on social media or reached via search engines such as Google. Sister websites the Canberra Times, the Brisbane Times and WAToday will retain their free access.



Readers using iPad or Android tablet apps can get full access for free for the first month before a A$21.99 monthly fee kicks in.



Sections remaining free for tablet users include the front page, editor's choice, and videos. Sections for subscribers will include news, world, BusinessDay, technology, sport and the crosswords.



Visitors to the SMH and Age web and mobile sites from North America, Europe and the Middle East have had a metered model in place since March, with access free for the first 10 articles each month. Fairfax said sign-ups are running at twice the expected rate.



The success of the metered model for Fairfax Australia's main metropolitan mastheads will be closely watched by sister publication the Australian Financial Review, said Brett Clegg, director of business media. Clegg said it was too early to say how many articles would be free under a metered plan should the Fin switch from its existing digital paywall.



NYT-picking



The New York Times, widely seen as an industry standard for successful meter models, had 676,000 paying digital subscribers at the end of March - almost as many as its 731,000 print customers, according to Bloomberg.



Readers currently get access to 10 free articles per month, with full access starting at 99 US cents ($1.24) for the first four weeks, before rising to US$3.75 per week.



Goldman Sachs media analyst Christian Guerra said investors are keen to learn more about Fairfax Australia's digital plans at today's briefings by the company.



Also of interest would be whether Fairfax Australia intends to spin off its Domain property assets and whether there are other cost-cutting efforts in the works, Guerra said in a research note.



Guerra, who has had a "sell/cautious" rating on Fairfax stock since January 31, argues the company remains too exposed to the ailing publishing industry, particularly after the sale of its Trade Me online auction business.



He estimates digital subscriptions will generate A$9m-A$27m in revenues per year, shy of the A$48m in revenue Goldman Sachs estimates the Metro Media division will lose next financial year.

Cost savings

Fairfax Media will deliver an extra A$60m in cost reductions above the A$251m already promised to the market following a restructure of its print and digital operations.

Fairfax is on track to reap savings of A$311m by the 2015 financial year following a restructure which began last year which saw redundancies and a management shake-up.

Fairfax chief executive Greg Hywood said consistent with previous guidance to the market, in the current half year up to the third week of May overall group revenues were 9 to 10 per cent lower than the previous corresponding period.

Hywood said Metro Media, which covers the company's flagship publications such as The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, is tracking down 11 per cent, regional papers down 11 per cent and its New Zealand division down 4 per cent.

Fairfax's radio business, which owns Melbourne's 3AW, was ahead 10 per cent while its booming digital real estate operation Domain was showing a 16 per cent lift in revenues.

Fairfax said it was now expecting to report second half EBITDA (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) in the range of A$129m to A$135m.

Hywood told analysts the company would not prop up unprofitable operations, with a transition to take place from its legacy print base to reshape as a true multi-media business.