<i>Times</i> Announces Pay Model

After months of hemming and hawing The New York Times today finally announced plans for a pay model for its Web site, NYTimes.com. The model will be a metered plan, as predicted by New York magazine's Gabriel Sherman over the weekend. Although announced today, the plan won't go into effect until next year, the New York Times Co. said. The metered plan will allow users to access a certain number of articles for free before being prompted to pay for additional access, much like The Financial Times' current model. Subscribers to the print edition will continue to have free access. Said publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr.: "Our new business model is designed to provide additional support for The New York Times' extraordinary, professional journalism. Our audiences are very loyal and we believe that our readers will pay for our award-winning digital content and services." Full release after the jump The New York Times Announces Plans for a Metered Model for NYTimes.com in 2011 NEW YORK, Jan 20, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- The New York Times announced today that it will be introducing a paid model for NYTimes.com at the beginning of 2011. The new approach, referred to as the metered model, will offer users free access to a set number of articles per month and then charge users once they exceed that number. This will enable NYTimes.com to create a second revenue stream and preserve its robust advertising business. It will also provide the necessary flexibility to keep an appropriate ratio between free and paid content and stay connected to a search-driven Web. 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. "Our new business model is designed to provide additional support for The New York Times' extraordinary, professional journalism," said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times. "Our audiences are very loyal and we believe that our readers will pay for our award-winning digital content and services." "This process of rethinking our business model has also been driven by our desire to achieve additional revenue diversity that will make us less susceptible to the inevitable economic cycles," said Janet L. Robinson, president and CEO, The New York Times Company. "We were also guided by the fact that our news and information are being featured in an increasingly broad range of end-user devices and services, and our pricing plans and policies must reflect this vision." More details regarding the metered model will be available in the coming months.

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Times Announces Pay Model

Amanda Ernst

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Amanda Ernst