New York Times, Charging For Content | featured news

Charging its most avid readers for digital access was officially not a dumb idea for The New York Times. In its second quarter earnings announcement, the Times Co. included some attention-getting figures for its new digital subscription program, which launched in March. Since then, the paper has amassed some 224,000 digital-only subscribers. Another 57,000 subscribe to replica editions delivered on e-readers like the Kindle and the Nook. On top of that, there are the 100,000 people getting e-subscriptions sponsored by Lincoln.

The New York Times rolled out a plan on Thursday to begin charging the most frequent users of its Web site $15 a month in a bet that readers would pay for news they have grown accustomed to getting free.

Starting in early 2011, visitors to NYTimes.com will get a certain number of articles free every month before being asked to pay a flat fee for access.

According to internal sources, the New York Times may soon be charging users for its online content. In a move that would bring the publication parallel to the Wall Street Journal, NPR, and the Financial Times, the New York Times seems to have settled on a system that would allow online readers to sample a certain amount of content before being prompted to subscribe.