Pearson, which today announced a 12% fall in profits, will charge for access to most areas of the site by the end of the year.
Previously, Pearson has said that FT.com generated its revenues through advertising, but with ad revenues flat and no improvement in sight it is thought that the media group has finally accepted that it must charge for content.
It is likely that some content will continue to be free but access to archive material and other premium content will be via an annual subscription charge or individual per-article payments.
The move would be the most significant addition to paid-for content by a major publisher in the UK. To date there has been a gradual shift toward paid-for content including The Times, which has introduced a nominal £10 fee for its crosswords.
The Daily Telegraph is also to charge £5 to play its online fantasy football game.
The Wall Street Journal has been charging for content for several years with all areas of the site only accessible to subscribers. Although not yet profitable, The Wall Street Journal currently has more than 500,000 subscribers who pay an annual subscription charge of $59 (£41). Subscribers to the paper are offered a discounted rate of $29 (£19.70).
On Friday it was revealed that FT.com boss, Michael Murphy, was to leave the company as part of a business restructure by owners Pearson.
Pearson was first reported to be mulling charging for content almost a year ago.
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