Gray Lady Announces Metered Access
Jinfo Blog

20th January 2010

By Nancy Davis Kho

Item

Making the rumours official, the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com) on Wednesday announced plans to introduce a paid access model for NYTimes.com, starting in 2011. The new model calls for free access to a set number of articles (still to be determined) and then charge users once they cross that bridge. According to the official statement at http://digbig.com/5bayja, '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.' While critics are sure to cry foul on attempts to erect a pay wall - Penny Crossland's recent post on the findings of tech consulting firm Ovum regarding the anticipated negative impacts of introducing paywalls sums it up nicely, at http://www.vivavip.com/go/e27766, the NYTimes really didn't have much to lose. With advertising revenues down across the newspaper industry - last Sunday's glossy Magazine had to be one of the thinnest on record - publisher Arthur Sulzberger must be looking at industry peers like the Financial Times and the Wall Street Journal, both of which charge for online access, with envy. The plan is a risky one, and there's a real danger that it could diminish the audience size that validates NYTimes.com ad rates and revenues. To work, the payment infrastructure must truly be 'frictionless,' making it easy for the average browser to pay by the drink. The content needs to be unique, high quality, and closely calibrated to changing reader interests. But the fact that the paper is giving itself a year to get the model right - and the fact that they didn't choose to work with established pay platform providers like Journalism Online (http://www.vivavip.com/go/e18742), speaks to the seriousness with which they are taking the task. Paidcontent.org obtained an internal memo (http://digbig.com/5bayjb) from Sulzberger and NYTimes president and CEO Janet Robinson which said, in part, 'Ultimately, we recognize that the success of our ideas will be judged by how well we execute this effort in the months to come.' There's little room - or time - to fail on this endeavour.

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