Posted on 09/14/2005 5:13:02 AM PDT by ovrtaxt
Come Monday, Sept. 19, fans of New York Times columnists Maureen Dowd, Paul Krugman, and David Brooks will have to break out their credit cards. Sept. 19 is the launch date of TimesSelect, a new subscription service designed to diversify the newspaper's revenue stream beyond traditional Web site advertising.
The popular Op-Ed columnists are the main selling point behind the $49.95 a year subscription. (The service will be free for the paper's home delivery subscribers). The paper's news, features, editorials, and analysis will remain free, as will interactive graphics, multimedia, and video.
TimesSelect subscribers will also have the ability to access up to 100 articles a month from the Times's 25-year digital archive. To sweeten the pot even further, the Times is offering a number of new services, including the ability to save and organize articles in a personal "Times File," an e-mail alert service, and early access to certain Sunday sections.
In an editor's letter posted Monday, NYTimes.com Editor Len Apcar called TimesSelect "an important step in the development of The New York Times."
But the move is not without its risks. The Times is likely to see a drop-off in page views, which advertisers covet, at least initially. But if successful, the move could embolden other publishers to begin experimenting with limited online subscription models.
An overview of TimesSelect offerings is available here.
Early response in the blogosphere was not positive. One popular blogger, John Aravosis at Americablog, predicted what many fans of Times' columnist might do: "People will still get copies of the articles, they'll still email them around the Net, some Web sites will still republish the entire articles illegally, and we'll end up linking to those sites instead of the New York Times (it ain't illegal to link)."
He added, commenting on "free" falling: "If the Times' idea catches on, this really could be the beginning of the end of the current state of Internet news."
They will make money on the subscriber e-mails by selling them to the Dems in the next fundraising cycle.
That is an excellent point!!
ROFLMAO. Who would pay to read Dowd?
"NYTimes.com To Launch Premium Service Next Monday: Will Fans Pay for Famed Columnists?"
No! Well only the leftist morons who hang on every lie will anti up 50 bucks to read this swill.
I have an idea for an additional Times revenue stream. It is called telling the truth. There is approximately 60% of the population out there who will not touch this bird cage liner because of its pandering to the left.
By just telling the truth as reporters rather than leftist editorialists, you open up a revenue stream that will generate millions ofd dollars annually. For further reference as to how this works, see Fox News.
Like athlete's foot they are everywhere, but that doesn't make them popular.
They are popular amongst the leftist readers of Editor & Publisher, who relish foisting them on their captive readers along with the unfunny Doonesbury.
No one is going to pay good money for their rants.
LOL. Do you think there is ONE SINGLE PERSON out there right now that is saying, "Heyyy, that sounds like a great deal! Honey, where's the checkbook?"
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/infoservdirectory.html#a
It's really amusing to think that the NYT heads think their columnists are so good that we peons need to pay to receive their wisdom.
oh yeah. gonna run out and order subscriptions for Christmas presents. Ha,ha. This oughta be awesome.
In a related story, ABC, CBS, and NBC will begin charging $100 per year for access to their websites allowing them to run the websites for free because their server would only need capacity for a handful of hits per day. /sarcasm
Hahahahahaha.
Only if I can pay for my subscription with Kotex and toilet paper.
"PAY for access to Dowd, Krugman, et al?
That's like building a turnstile and ticket booth at the county dump!"
Oooohhhh that is soooo funny, it bears repeating
Yeah! They can have that last one I "cut loose" after eating some cheese.....
Not only NO, but HE** no.
Shows how much the New York Times cares about the poor.
Dowd-Rich-Krugman-Herbert
The "4 Horsemen of the Apocalypse"
Definitely the 4 worst columnists in America!!! Anyone who would pay to read them needs psychiatric treatment.
Real life can really be stranger than fiction. I can't imagine anyone being Dowd's fan, much less paying to read her incoherent ramblings.
I have a better idea. Go to your local pub, and you will find better commentators on national issues.
He added, commenting on "free" falling: "If the Times' idea catches on, this really could be the beginning of the end of the current state of Internet news."
Sure it'll catch on; like athelete's foot. Boy do these folks have an inflated view of themselves; thinking that people would be willing to pay to read their opinions. /shake head
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