The Times online, the website version of the popular daily newspaper could be subscriber only early next year as Rupert Murdoch tries to claw back profits from lost revenue over the past few years.

The Times online is currently free to view but from June next year anyone who wants to read content on the site will have to pay a monthly or annual subscription fee. News International may even take the bold step of removing all its content from search engines like Google to try to win back readers and increase profits.

Plans for other titles like The Sun and The News of the World have yet to be finalised but whatever the outcome it will have to be a well calculated gamble to not alienate viewers and lose readers.