The Solar, Britain’s highest-circulation tabloid, is rolling out a brand new subscription service—dubbed “Sun Club”—priced at £1.99 a month.
Launching on Tuesday, it’ll cost readers for chosen star columns, together with these by Jeremy Clarkson, in addition to widespread options such because the “Dear Deidre” agony aunt and unique investigations.
The transfer marks the writer’s return to a paid-content technique a decade after scrapping its earlier paywall in December 2015, when it was deemed to have lower The Solar’s total digital viewers too sharply. This time, the partial paywall goals to capitalise on in-demand content material by internet hosting unique movies, alongside contributions from different high-profile columnists like Rod Liddle, Free Girls’s Jane Moore and political editor Harry Cole.
The brand new Solar Membership membership additionally presents entry to long-running offers, such because the “Holidays from £9.50” promotion—till now restricted to print patrons and app subscribers. Editor-in-chief Victoria Newton mentioned: “The Sun has always offered readers more than a paper. Sun Club will help us expand our offer to audiences even further.”
The choice follows comparable strikes by rival publishers, such because the Day by day Mail, which launched its personal paid on-line service—Mail+—beginning at £4.99 a month in early 2024. With growing downward strain on print revenues and uncertainty in promoting markets, The Solar is hoping that focused paid content material will assist generate a brand new supply of digital revenue whereas retaining its core readership.
Beforehand, The Solar pioneered a full paywall in August 2013, leveraging Premier League soccer highlights to spice up uptake. Nevertheless, regardless of attracting round 200,000 paying subscribers, the publication deserted the mannequin in favour of reaching a wider free viewers amid competitors from opponents like MailOnline. The reintroduction of subscriptions suggests a recalibration, underlining the continued challenges going through UK newspapers within the seek for sustainable enterprise fashions.