Newspapers dallying with the idea of following the lead of The Times and plunging into the world of paid for content may be given pause for thought by the comments of Benedict Evans of Enders Analysis.

Evans calculates that even if newspapers succeed in transferring every print reader to paying online they are still set for big losses.

The observation came after Enders noted that annual income per paywall subscriber is just a quarter of that gleaned from subscribers to print editions, although this increases to a half if iPad income is counted.

Even assuming costs can be reduced one day by switching the printing presses off this gap cannot be bridged.

In addition to subscriber revenue The Times is also being hit by a bleed of advertising revenue, as one ad buyer from media agency MEC told the Independent: “We are just not advertising on it. If there’s no traffic on there, there’s no point in advertising on there. Online, we have far more options than just newspaper websites – it’s not a huge loss to anyone really. If we are considering using some newspaper websites, The Times is just not in consideration.”