Roop’s paywalls: there’s nobody behind the Walls of Murdocho.

The early indications suggested that Murdoch’s Times and Sunday Times UK paywalls were likely to turn into a disaster, but as more information breaks about how the paywalls are doing, things go from worse to ghastly. Very few people are signing up to pay, and the move has upset advertisers who don’t want to advertise to such a small audience.

Rob Lynam, head of press trading at the media agency MEC, whose clients include Lloyds Banking Group, Orange, Morrisons and Chanel, says, “We are just not advertising on it. If there’s no traffic on there, there’s no point in advertising on there.” Lynam says he has been told by News International insiders that traffic to The Times site has fallen by 90 per cent since the introduction of charges.

PRs are in turn keeping their sources away from Times reporters, preferring to provide access to news organizations where the story might actually get seen by people, rather than locked up behind the Walls of Murdocho. Publicist clients are increasingly reluctant to give interviews or stories to The Times, on the grounds that they would not be made freely available via search engines.

What’s also not being made freely available is updated data. The Big Six in Wapping are reputed to be the only ones on the planet who know the numbers. Well, as of tonight The Slog can reveal that rather more than this are about to find out just how silly the stats are.

“They have to tell agencies the truth at some point,” an insider confides, “and the truth is going to hurt Newscorp much more than it hurts them.”

The on-message line being handed to media sales is that (quote) ‘conversions are increasing steadily, and there are encouraging signs that paywalls will be the future of quality journalism online’. But the reality is that subscriptions are running at 15% of what Murdoch needs for a viable business base….and falling.

Related: Coulson shadow stalks Newscorp.