New York Times paywall coming March 28
By Julianne Pepitone, staff reporter March 17, 2011: 12:23 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- The New York Times announced "digital subscriptions" on Thursday, revealing the long-awaited details of its paywall plan. Starting March 28, non-subscribers will be able to read only 20 online articles for free each month.
Home delivery subscribers can continue to access online and app content for free. Non-subscribers can choose from three packages: $15 per month for Web access and smartphone content; $20 for Web plus access to the Times iPad app; and $35 for Web, tablet and smartphone access.
There's still some room for free, though: Readers who reach online Times articles through links from search engines, blogs and social media will be able to access those individual articles, even if they have reached the 20-article monthly limit.
But for some search engines, users will have a daily limit of free links. The New York Times' press release on its plan did not specify which search engines will be affected, but a Times article on the plan said there will be a five-link limit through Google (GOOG, Fortune 500).
The homepage at NYTimes.com and all section fronts will remain free to browse at all times. The "Top News" section will remain free on the Times' smartphone and tablet applications.
The Times' digital subscription plan is rolling out in Canada starting Thursday, "in order to fine-tune the customer experience" before the service rolls out to the rest of the world.
New York Times Co. (NYT) stock rose 4.9% in midday trade following the announcement.
In a prepared statement, Times publisher and chairman Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., said the move "will result in another source of revenue, strengthening our ability to continue to invest in ... journalism and digital innovation."
The cost of free: The Times article said the "freemium" model -- some content free, some paid -- is an effort to keep as many as possible of the website's 30 million monthly readers.
Determining the paid vs. free balance has been difficult for media companies, and they've been making big bets on digital publications as print sales dwindle.
Will millions of people pay for iPad news?
News Corp. (NWS, Fortune 500) has been at the forefront of charging for content. While some of its The Wall Street Journal content can be accessed for free, a sizable portion is behind a paywall.
And last month, News Corp. unveiled an iPad-only publication called The Daily. CEO Rupert Murdoch committed around 100 staffers and an investment of $30 million to get it launched, and will spend $26 million a year to keep it running. The Daily costs 99 cents a week, or $40 for a yearly subscription -- though News Corp. has extended a free trial for several weeks.
The price point for digital content is a sticky decision for media companies, as the proliferation of blogs often means readers can get similar content for free elsewhere.
And going digital can be expensive. To take The Daily as an example: To break even on its operating costs from subscriber revenue alone, The Daily would have to sell more than 650,000 subscriptions -- and that's without accounting for the cut Apple (AAPL, Fortune 500) takes for selling The Daily through its App Store.
Apple unveiled a new subscriptions model last month, in which the company will take 30% of all sales generated through its platform -- and publishers cannot include links in their apps to let customers buy content outside of the app.
The Times said its apps will be in compliance with the Apple subscription model by June 30.
Credit: CNN (www.cnn.com)
No comments:
Post a Comment