Thursday, January 21, 2010

Goodbye "NYT"


This will be a cascading feature throughout the Internet.

The New York Times announced today that it will be introducing a paid model for NYTimes.com at the beginning of 2011.

The new approach, referred to as the metered model, will offer users free access to a set number of articles per month and then charge users once they exceed that number. This will enable NYTimes.com to create a second revenue stream and preserve its robust advertising business. It will also provide the necessary flexibility to keep an appropriate ratio between free and paid content and stay connected to a search-driven Web.

Through 2010, NYTimes.com will be building a new online infrastructure designed to provide consumers with a frictionless experience across multiple platforms. Once the metered model is implemented, New York Times home delivery print subscribers will continue to have free access to NYTimes.com.

"Our new business model is designed to provide additional support for The New York Times' extraordinary, professional journalism," said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times. "Our audiences are very loyal and we believe that our readers will pay for our award-winning digital content and services."

"This process of rethinking our business model has also been driven by our desire to achieve additional revenue diversity that will make us less susceptible to the inevitable economic cycles," said Janet L. Robinson, president and CEO, The New York Times Company. "We were also guided by the fact that our news and information are being featured in an increasingly broad range of end-user devices and services, and our pricing plans and policies must reflect this vision."

More details regarding the metered model will be available in the coming months.

4 comments:

Timothy said...

and i have pretty much stopped reading newspapers....and watching television.....no cell phone...i may no longer exists if i cancel the internet....does it hurt?

Mercury said...

Indeed Tim. The Internet is changing...there's gold in that bandwidth and it will be mined. And also understand that AT&T is considering metered Internet usage and a charge for extra bandwidth.

Mercury said...

Actually Tim, it has already started...Wallstreet Journal, many scientific and philosophical journals change per article or require a subscription. Those on a fixed income, like you and me, will be denied access to knowledge.

Timothy said...

we always have the library....and wealthy women patrons waiting in the wings