Case Study: Winnipeg Free Press achieves metered micropayments and 10–15% digital revenue growth with MPP Global eSuite

Winnipeg Free Press Launches iTunes for News Model with MPP Global

Winnipeg Free Press, a leading Canadian daily, needed a way to monetize its growing digital audience: only about 30% of readers were all-access subscribers, leaving a large untapped casual readership. The paper required an integrated metered paywall and entitlement system that supported device management, single sign-on and flexible, low-commitment payment options to convert non-subscribers without raising barriers to entry.

The Free Press implemented MPP Global’s PCI‑DSS‑compliant eSuite platform and launched a “read now, pay later” post‑pay micropayment model (≈27¢/article) with metering, personalization, a single customer view and a refund option. Results included 100,000+ registrations in two weeks and 170,000+ total, ~6,000 users adding payment details and ~3,000 on pay‑per‑article plans, more than 30,000 paying readers overall, 45% activation of print subscribers to digital, a ~50% reduction in print subscriber losses year‑over‑year, low refund rates (<2%), and scalable infrastructure ready for up to 1 million daily requests.

Winnipeg Free Press

Christian Panson

VP of Digital