NYTimes Confirms It Will Start Charging For Online News In 2011

jmtpi writes "The article is frustratingly vague, but the New York Times is confirming earlier speculation that it will start charging online readers who visit the site regularly. Occasional users will still get free access to a certain number of articles per month. Most of the key details are not yet determined, but the system is scheduled to be deployed at the beginning of next year." The Times is planning on rolling its own pay system, and it will doubtless use the rest of 2010 to look at how sites like the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times fare before deciding on specifics. How often do you readers typically hit articles at nytimes.com in a given month? We try to avoid linking to stories behind paywalls when possible, and if the Times chooses a low monthly limit, you'll probably see a lot fewer links to their site — which would be a shame.

Comments

Re:Duh.

[Pojut]

You mean people don't want to hear opinions presented as facts? Huh...sounds like Fox News has us fooled -_-

Re:It's all about advertising

[PCM2]

As this article at The Atlantic [theatlantic.com] points out, the NY Times makes more money from subscriptions than from advertising.

I think you're distorting the meaning of that quote. What the article actually says is, "For the first time ever, the NYT is making more money from circulation than advertising." That doesn't mean current subscription revenue is paying the bills. It just means the NYT is getting less money from advertising than it ever has. That's not encouraging; it's deeply worrying.