N.Y. Times Attempts To Scale 'Pay Wall' For Online Content

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY ^ | 11/30/05 | BY DOUG TSURUOKA

[CAWats]

INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 11/30/2005

Some readers were miffed. Others said the online subscriptions would never fly.

But two months after The New York Times (NYT) launched TimesSelect, a for-pay service based on the paper's Op-Ed columnists, numbers of readers are paying for online content that used to be free.

The Times said in early November that about 135,000 Web surfers have signed up for TimesSelect. They're paying to access a bevy of Times columnists, including Maureen Dowd, Thomas Friedman and David Brooks.

[Buck W.]

Probably buried as business expenses...

[ElkGroveDan]

People would buy plaid polyester leisure suits if you offered them for sale. So what?

[Emmett McCarthy]

Could these numbers be harder to disprove than circulation claims of the regular old newpaper?

[Alberta's Child]

I've speculated that this type of arrangement is a perfect mechanism for circumventing Federal campaign finance laws. Some wealthy Democrat with a hard limit on the amount of "soft" money he can give to the party can buy 100,000 on-line subscriptions to the NY Times at $29.95 apiece -- and the NY Times will provide free "support" for his issues in the form of editorials, op-ed pieces, etc.

And as far as I know there really is no way to prosecute the donor for violating campaign finance restrictions. All that sh!t about "free speech" for newspapers, you know.

[randog]

Could these numbers be harder to disprove than circulation claims of the regular old newpaper?

Here's your answer just inside the article:

But the paper declines to disclose how much money it's making from TimesSelect for competitive reasons.

Yeah, it's pretty standard practice for companies to hide their profits--might scare away investors and stuff.

[GodfearingTexan]

The hard core liberals want the NYT. It doesn't matter to them if they have to pay for it or not. They need to feel superior to the rest of us by being a NYT reader.

[Emmett McCarthy]

I figured it was something they could use to hide their failures.

[Emmett McCarthy]

There would be an angle like that, too. NY area locals like Corzine and Bloomberg especially could pay that freight.

By the way, is "Alberta" your Mom or your place or origin?

[Alberta's Child]

By the way, is "Alberta" your Mom or your place or origin?

Neither! "Alberta's Child" is the name of a song by Canadian country music legend Ian Tyson (check out my FR profile page). I'm an American, but I used to live in Alberta and still do business up there.

[Monti Cello]

I'd expect the NYT opinion pages to get more shrill as they aim to please this paying audience. It will become even more an echo chamber for a small and dwindling crowd.

[Hank Rearden]

numbers of readers are paying for online content that used to be free.

Two, twelve and zero are numbers.

[Syberyenta]

They will not get a dime from me.

[SouthTexas]

Another critic is Mickey Kaus, a well-read blogger who writes a lot about the media. He says the paper is shooting itself in the foot by charging for columns. He says the columns were influential because anyone could read them for free online. If fewer people read them because of a subscription fee, then these columnists will be less influential.

They sure carry a lot of weight around here! /sarc.

[Crim]

LMAO...me either...now if they could just gaurantee that we'd never hear from them again if we dont pay!

[ExtremeUnction]

ANYONE could still read Maureen Dowd for free on the Internet if they put a little (very little) effort into it!

[Solemar]

[i]People would buy plaid polyester leisure suits if you offered them for sale. So what?[/i]

And what the he!! is wrong with plaid polyester leisure suits??

[Jimbaugh]

I would pay Maureen Dowd to shut up but that would cost too much.

[montag813]

The Slimes has implemented this service in a very clever way. They have a photo for each feature and present a tantalizing title which makes you want to click it. If 5% of people pay for it, they will make a mint.

[montag813]

The Slimes has implemented this service in a very clever way. They have a photo for each feature and present a tantalizing title which makes you want to click it. If 5% of people pay for it, they will make a mint.