Dear BirminghamLive readers,
We listened! I get contact from readers all the time - some saying they appreciate our work scrutinising the council, or recognising we are taking a stand against pedestrian deaths - but frankly more from people saying they want a different experience.
More local, more quality, less celebrity and, more than anything else, an experience less impacted by advertising. Well, as I say, we listened.
The BirminghamLive Premium app, which we are launching to Apple IOS users today and on Android in a matter of days to come, delivers on all the above. It will feature exclusive news you can't get elsewhere, on top of the very best news, features, sport, podcasts and more from the Birmingham Mail and BirminghamLive and some extra features thrown in - such as puzzles and giveaways.
The experience will be tailored to a West Midlands audience - including the ability to tailor your experience, so if you're a Birmingham City fan from Sutton Coldfield, you'll get that news the way you want it.
It is a change for us digitally - we will be asking people to pay for news, which we haven't done before. But our audience are calling out for this change. I can honestly say as editor, I am proud of the product we have created.
Advertising is important to us. We need it to pay our journalists and to keep our website free. But it’s also important to us that you enjoy visiting us - and lots of people tell us they are happy to pay a small fee to keep things smooth and easy.
The new app is the best way to experience our journalism with no adverts*, pop ups or distractions. Just brilliant storytelling. You will be able to read 25 articles a week free on the app. After that, for £2.99 a month, or a one-off annual payment of £19.99, you get unlimited access and a host of extra features. Our website will remain free because it is important to us that financial hardship should not prevent anyone from accessing news.
Whatever the platform, we are proud and privileged to tell your stories and never take for granted the fact we are your trusted source for news and sport. We know what you like and what you don’t like, because you tell us - sometimes in a very robust way and that’s the way it should be. Listening to you means we learn how to serve you better. And, one of the issues you’ve raised is around the performance of our website.
If you have an iPhone or iPad, you can get BirminghamLive Premium now. Let me know what you think!
*Ad-free indicates that you will not be shown standard display ad formats with the articles that you read, selected articles may contain commercial messages/affiliate links where contractually required.
