The Chicago Sun-Times and its 39 affiliated suburban newspapers are scheduled to start charging for online subscriptions.

Starting on Thursday, online readers will get 20 free page views across all Sun-Times Media websites every 30 days before hitting a paywall.

“The journalism we generate has value, and we think our readers and viewers will fully understand and support this decision on our part,” said Sun-Times Media CEO Jeremy Halbreich.

Sun-Times Media will charge $6.99 for a four-week, unlimited subscription, about $78 annually. Current subscribers to any Sun-Times affiliated newspaper will be charged for $1.99 every four weeks for online access.

Halbreich said he’s not concerned about losing readers after the paywall goes into effect.

The Northwest suburban paper The Daily Herald enacted a similar paywall earlier this year.