The wildfires in Los Angeles have killed at least 24 people and destroyed more than 12,000 homes and other structures in the last week. And it’s not over yet. Firefighters struggling to contain the Eaton, Palisades, and other blazes will face a “particularly dangerous situation” over the next few days as winds pick up, according to the National Weather Service, which issued a rare “most severe” warning on Monday morning.
From the beginning of the crisis, the L.A. Times has made its wildfire coverage free. The newspaper saw record-breaking readership with traffic to the website peaking on Wednesday, Jan. 8 — the day after the fires began, a Times spokesperson confirmed. Overall, traffic was up 800% from the past 30-day average and new subscriptions were up over 259% compared to that same period. (The Times declined to share absolute numbers of subscribers gained.) The Times estimates that lifting the paywall on all wildfire-related stories resulted in a 45% lower subscriber conversion rate.
The L.A. Times entered the new year with about 650,000 paid readers — a figure that combines print, digital, and third-party platforms like Apple News — including 275,000 direct digital subscribers. (An estimated 20,000 subscribers canceled over its decision to not endorse in the 2024 presidential race.) L.A. Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong announced in December that getting 400,000 direct digital subscriptions — representing about 1% of California’s 40 million residents — is a primary goal for the newsroom.
The Times had its “most subscriber visits ever” on January 8. And readers stuck around. Site recirculation — when readers come to the L.A. Times site for one story and then stay to read other coverage — was up 1,500% compared to the previous month-long average. Video coverage, in particular, did well with video plays up by 1,800% compared to the previous month.
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