The Times attracts 105,000 paying customers online

The News International paper's website, and that of the Sunday Times, have also attracted 100,000 print subscribers who can access digital content without charge in the three months since it launched its paywall.

This compares with 189,000 paying subscribers to Pearson's Financial Times in the third quarter, a 50% rise since the beginning of the year that was partly driven by the launch of content for the iPad tablet computer.

The FT, like the Wall Street Journal, also owned by Rupert Murdoch, has always charged for its online content but it is a business-orientated title. The Times is the first general newspaper to implement a paywall on its website.

The Times and Sunday Times feared losing 90% of their online audience since introducing charges in July, but the papers said today that the drop in audience was better than such forecasts.

Asked on BBC radio whether the audience drop was greater or less than the 90% it had considered likely, Times editor James Harding said: "It's less than that."

The paywall exercise is being closely watched by an industry whose circulation and advertising revenues are in decline.

News International's chief executive, Rebekah Brooks, said: "It is early days but renewal rates are encouraging and each of our digital subscribers is more engaged and more valuable to us than very many unique users of the previous model."

Readers are charged £1 for a day or £2 for a week's access to theTimes.co.uk and theSundayTimes.co.uk. The iPad app costs £9.99 a month.