After two years (to the day, actually), the Times is (finally) opening up its entire site to all readers, ending the “TimesSelect” subscription program:
In addition to opening the entire site to all readers, The Times will also make available its archives from 1987 to the present without charge, as well as those from 1851 to 1922, which are in the public domain.
The newspaper said the TimesSelect project had met expectations, drawing 227,000 paying subscribers — out of 787,000 over all — and generating about $10 million a year in revenue.
Whether this will help turn the Times around financially (those have been a rough two years) remains to be seen, but is an important signal of one of media’s most esteemed brands reaching the Acceptance phase in coping with the new economics of newspapers. Expect Dow Jones to follow suit with the Wall Street Journal.