The affordability of mainstream news is not a problem in the UK. The average household income in the UK in 2019 was £29,400 in 2019 (approx. €32,600 or US$36,600) (Office for National Statistics, 2019). All broadcast news in the UK is available for the cost of the television licence fee (£157.20 and free to all over-75s at the time of writing), with commercial public service broadcasters funded by advertising and free to access. All public-service channels plus Sky News are available on the digital Freeview service, usually built into modern televisions or accessible via a separate box available for around £20. National digital radio channels and BBC local radio stations are also available on Freeview.
Monthly unlimited broadband costs in the UK begin at around £20 (Cable.co.uk, n.d.) and unlimited mobile data plans also begin at similar prices (Choose.co.uk, 2019). These are the basic minimum costs needed for household or individual access to news online. Once online, most broadcast news content can be accessed for free, though access to previously-broadcast news on the BBC’s catch-up iPlayer service requires users to have a television licence. National newspapers have gradually introduced paywalls for some or all of their content, but the Sun (which used a paywall between 2013 and 2015), Mirror, Daily Mail, Daily Express, Daily Star, the i, the Independent and the Guardian are all free to access (though the Guardian requires registration and employs a voluntary membership payment scheme). The mobile apps for each of these titles is also free to access. Digital subscriptions are necessary to access The Times (£26 per month for standard subscription, excluding introductory offers), the Telegraph (£6 per week) and the Financial Times (£33 per month). The leading news magazines also offer digital subscriptions: the Spectator at £10 per month, the New Statesman at £120 annually or £10 per month, and the Economist at £179 annually (approximately £15 per month). Local and regional newspapers have traditionally been free to access online, although some publishers are preparing to introduce paywalls (Tobitt, 2020).
Cover prices for print newspapers range from under £1 for weekday copies (all tabloid and mid-market titles) to £2-£3 for broadsheet newspapers. Saturday, Sunday and weekend editions of each newspaper tend to be priced higher slightly higher than weekday copies. Publishers are less likely to offer print-only subscriptions now, with some instead offering print + digital subscription packages, for example the Guardian’s multi-platform subscription for £55 per month and the Financial Times offering print and digital subscriptions for £63 per month. These are by far the most expensive routes to access for news content.
