Mon

Sep 17
2007

Andrew Savikas

Andrew Savikas

NY Times Ends Subscription-only Access

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.


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Comments: 1

  Amy [01.28.08 09:33 AM]

Actually, Murdoch just annonced that he will *not* open up the whole WSJ online. He will make additional content free, but, at the same time, he plans on introducing additional member-only content.

My suspicion is that the folks at DJ finally convinced him that he would be removing revenue from other DJ products - particularly Factiva - if he made WSJ all free, all the time.

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