Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, which is trying to stem newspaper revenue declines, could charge for access to its news websites by the middle of next year.
The group also said it might break off its relationship with Amazon.com's Kindle e-reader if it cannot get better terms.
Mr Murdoch said today he was unhappy with the Kindle's control of relationships with newspaper subscribers, and might seek a better deal with rival e-reader maker Sony.
His comments come after News Corporation, whose properties include T he Wall Street Journal, The Sun, News of the Worldand the Times of London, cable programmers, local TV stations and movie studios, reported a 10.7 per cent drop in quarterly revenue to $7.67 billion.
Mr Murdoch did not provide details on a conference call today, but said that he wants to make people pay for access to his news websites by the middle of the 2010 fiscal year, which ends next June.
"An industry that gives away its content is cannibalising its ability to do good reporting," Mr Murdoch said. The Wall Street Journal, owned by News Corporation's Dow Jones unit, now offers some paid and some free stories.
The move would affect news websites visited by millions of people around the world, including popular tabloids like the New York Postand The Sunand The Australian.
News Corporation's results reflected the tough conditions that media companies have operated in since the financial crisis took over headlines last year.
Its net loss was $203 million, or 8 cents a share, for the fiscal fourth quarter, ended June 30th, primarily because of charges at the unit that includes the MySpace social network. Net income last year was $1.13 billion, or 43 cents a share.