BostonGlobe.com launches as a subscription-only website tomorrow

By Chris Reidy, Globe Staff

BostonGlobe.com, which launched last month and was initially available to readers on a free trial basis, will begin charging for access to its content starting tomorrow morning, Globe officials said.

As part of the transition from a free to a subscription-only website, BostonGlobe.com will be shut down from noon today until 5 a.m. tomorrow.

The Globe is launching a special promotional subscription to the new site -- $0.99 for the first four weeks. After that, subscription to BostonGlobe.com will cost $3.99 a week. Subscribers to the Globe’s print edition will not have to pay extra for access to BostonGlobe.com.

As a subscription-only website, BostonGlobe.com will combine the newspaper’s print stories with breaking news on a site designed for customers who want premium content that they can read on multiple devices, from computers to tablets to smartphones.

The Globe is keeping Boston.com as a free site that will continue to offer breaking news, blogs, photo galleries, sports coverage, and a limited selection of stories from the paper.

The Globe joins other major newspapers in charging for online content as readers and advertisers continue migrating to the Internet. The strategy at the Globe is unique because the paper has decided to split its news brands - Boston.com and The Boston Globe - into different websites.