New York Times to start charging $15 for iPhone, iPad subscriptions by June
The New York Times plans to adopt Apple's In App Subscription model for its iPhone and iPad applications by late June, with prices starting at $15 for every four weeks worth of access to its published content, the publication said Thursday.
The announcement marks just the second high-profile media outlet to agree to Apple's In App Subscription model for digital publications announced last month. This arrangement, which sees Apple keep 30% of revenues generated from each digital subscription, was unveiled alongside The Daily, a digital newspaper created specifically for the iPad by media heavyweight News Corp. that sells for $0.99 per week.
Although the Times is launching digital subscriptions in the Canadian market beginning today, it is doing so in order to fine-tune the customer experience prior to the global launch of the service on both non-Apple devices and iPad and iPhone on March 28th. The iPhone and iPad applications will gain a 1-click purchase option on June 30th.
For non-home delivery subscribers, the Times said the basic package, which includes NYTimes.com access plus a smartphone (or iPhone) app, will start at $15 every four weeks (or $195 per year). A second package offering NYTimes.com access plus a tablet (or iPad) app will fetch $20, while an "All Digital Access" package offering full access to NYTimes.com and both of the aforementioned applications will sell for $35 every four weeks.
"Our decision to begin charging for digital access will result in another source of revenue, strengthening our ability to continue to invest in the journalism and digital innovation on which our readers have come to depend," said New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. "This move will enhance The Times's position as a source of trustworthy news, information and high-quality opinion for many years to come."
In moving to its paid subscription model, the newspaper said it will continue to allow non-subscribers of NYTimes.com to access up to 20 articles per month at no charge before they will be asked to become digital subscribers in order to be granted open access to the site. Additionally, the Top News section of the Times' smartphone and tablet applications will remain free to all readers.
Home-delivery subscribers who pay to have the Times delivered to their doorstep will receive free, unlimited access to the paper's content on NYTimes.com, tablets and smart phones. And those readers who come to Times articles through links from search, blogs and social media will continue to be able to access those individual articles, even if they have reached their reading limit.
Additionally, the homepage at NYTimes.com and all section fronts will remain free to browse for all users at all times.
The announcement marks just the second high-profile media outlet to agree to Apple's In App Subscription model for digital publications announced last month. This arrangement, which sees Apple keep 30% of revenues generated from each digital subscription, was unveiled alongside The Daily, a digital newspaper created specifically for the iPad by media heavyweight News Corp. that sells for $0.99 per week.
Although the Times is launching digital subscriptions in the Canadian market beginning today, it is doing so in order to fine-tune the customer experience prior to the global launch of the service on both non-Apple devices and iPad and iPhone on March 28th. The iPhone and iPad applications will gain a 1-click purchase option on June 30th.
For non-home delivery subscribers, the Times said the basic package, which includes NYTimes.com access plus a smartphone (or iPhone) app, will start at $15 every four weeks (or $195 per year). A second package offering NYTimes.com access plus a tablet (or iPad) app will fetch $20, while an "All Digital Access" package offering full access to NYTimes.com and both of the aforementioned applications will sell for $35 every four weeks.
"Our decision to begin charging for digital access will result in another source of revenue, strengthening our ability to continue to invest in the journalism and digital innovation on which our readers have come to depend," said New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. "This move will enhance The Times's position as a source of trustworthy news, information and high-quality opinion for many years to come."
In moving to its paid subscription model, the newspaper said it will continue to allow non-subscribers of NYTimes.com to access up to 20 articles per month at no charge before they will be asked to become digital subscribers in order to be granted open access to the site. Additionally, the Top News section of the Times' smartphone and tablet applications will remain free to all readers.
Home-delivery subscribers who pay to have the Times delivered to their doorstep will receive free, unlimited access to the paper's content on NYTimes.com, tablets and smart phones. And those readers who come to Times articles through links from search, blogs and social media will continue to be able to access those individual articles, even if they have reached their reading limit.
Additionally, the homepage at NYTimes.com and all section fronts will remain free to browse for all users at all times.
Comments
Second, the NYT just isn't my cup of tea.
They should have stuck with the model set by The Daily.
NYTimes.com + smartphone app: $15/mo.
NYTimes.com + tablet app: $20/mo.
All Digital Access (i.e., NYTimes.com + smartphone + tablet): $35/mo.
(Nor can they spell "Besides")
"Android's Browser Leaves the iPhone's in the Dust" - from the Atlantic Monthly.
So maybe better off on another device to read content like the Times. Though I still like the 'Pad
Gee, real news is twice as expensive as Netflix? Wow, that's just amazing! Not.
whoops!
"Android's Browser Leaves the iPhone's in the Dust" - from the Atlantic Monthly. ...
Whoops! No one cares but fandroids.
Does the NYT realize that they will be charging double the rate of a Netflix subscription?
yeah, 200 dollars a year for ... a newspaper. Wow.
I bet it has advertisements too and I bet a lot of dumbasses buy it anyway.
Does the NYT realize that they will be charging double the rate of a Netflix subscription?
Do you realize that movies and news are different things?
Do you realize that the NYT employs actual journalists with credentials, editorial staff, etc.?
Where do you think the free and cheap news sites are going to get their content from when the paid journalists no longer have a job?
Media is dead due to content not method of delivery. ...
This may be true to some extent. The NY Times website has increasingly become about blogging, rather than focusing on hard news reporting, and the quality of the blogging is pretty much what one expects from the medium, not from the NY Times.
I think, ultimately, their paywall strategy will be a failure. (It may succeed at the WSJ, but the readership of the NYT, as a whole, represents a different demographic and their content is not as unique.) They tried a version of this a few years ago with "premium" content behind a paywall and the experiment was such an utter failure (and apparently lost them so much revenue) that they ended it. Why they think they'll be more successful this time around is a mystery; most people will just abandon the NYT and find other sources of news that remain free.
Newspapers need to change something to stay afloat, but I don't see this as the change that will help. Rather, if stuck to, it's likely to be the change that hastens their demise.
However you get other goodies with it as well. For instance I am getting £1 cinema tickets every Sunday and also half price menus at several restaurants. Dependent on the month you may get other better/worst deals in a range of services: theater, spa treatments etc. Dependent on your lifestyle this may actually turn out to be a good deal.
I think NYT would be charging too much if 15$ a month is only for reading news! However I do not know that much about the US market.
I used to be a regular at nytimes.com, and I'm a news junkie. But now I use local news sources, news.google.com, and The Daily. nytimes.com's most important stories get republished at a million other sites, and their web and app look hopelessly behind the times compared to The Daily.
I love The Daily. I realize it's sometimes breezy and a little shallow at times, but it has become my morning ritual. Their presentation is awesome, their content is perfectly formatted for the iPad's capabilities, and the price is right. I also love the way advertising takes a while to load - when you see that spinning wheel just flick again to the next page. Sorry Rupert.
Do you realize that movies and news are different things?
Do you realize that the NYT employs actual journalists with credentials, editorial staff, etc.?
Where do you think the free and cheap news sites are going to get their content from when the paid journalists no longer have a job?
#1 I never suggested that it be free,
#2 Ad revenue has always been the primary revenue source to support the news staff,
#3 Take a look at other paid news/iOS businesses, (Financial Times, The Economist, WSJ, CNN, The Daily) for your answer.
#4. There are plenty of other sources that are available at the present.