Here's what happens when a news website requires registration

The graph shows traffic (% market share) at a variety of British news websites.  Visits to The Times have plunged.  Here's a spokesman whistling in the dark:

"Since the registration wall has gone live, we've seen about a 60% drop in traffic over the last couple of weeks," he said.  However, "that is probably a little bit less of a drop than a lot of people expected... so this is quite a positive [figure]," he added.

I used to visit their site and have linked to their content on dozens of occasions - but not any more.  And note that the drop on the graph shows the response to registration only; when the registered visitors have to begin paying, a further response is anticipated.

Update July 21:  Online visits to The Times have now dropped 90%.