New York Times to axe online subscription service?

Posted by John Burke on August 7, 2007 at 5:00 PM

Since its launch, the New York Times online sub, TimesSelect, has been praised by some, criticized by most: even opinion within the walls of the paper was radically mixed. Now, it seems that after almost two years of existence, TimesSelect may be on the way out.

Staci at PaidContent leads us to an article in the New York Post that quotes an unidentified NYT staffer claiming that its curtains for TimesSelect and that the cancelation will come with a software change.

According to a July article in the Post, the pressure from the Times' staff became too great and that executives have finally decided to drop the program, but have not made an official announcement. The PR line is that the company is still evaluating the best business model for its online offerings. It is possible that the head honchos decided that they would make more in advertising revenues by opening up their hallowed columnists to the general public.

What does this mean for online newspaper subscriptions? With the Times' lead, will all general information papers take the hint and decide that exposure online, and thus eyeballs that bring in advertising revenue, is a more effective business model than the traditional subscription? What will Mr. Murdoch do with his new acquisition, the Wall Street Journal being the only paper to have really tasted sweet success with an online subscription?

Source: PaidContent (here and here)

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