This week, the New York Times will be launching two brand new digital products: NYT Now and Times Premier, both services geared toward the average newspaper reader and the New York Times aficionado.
According to a press release, NYT Now is an $8 per month product that is supported by native ads and gives readers the opportunity to peruse a wider range of articles than what is presently available for non-subscribers. Each article will be updated by editors and will be viewed either on the Internet or as an iOS app for the Iphone.
Between 30 and 40 news articles will be posted each day. In addition, a team of a dozen or so editors will summarize the day’s news and events into bullet points. Readers will get the chance to view morning and evening briefing of the news.
“Paid Post units and branded content will begin appearing on NYT Now on April 2 and on The Times’s core news app for iPhone and iPod touch and mobile web site in the coming months. Paid Posts will become available on some of The Times’s other smartphone and tablet apps later this year,” the newspaper said in a statement.
“Advertising on NYT Now will consist exclusively of Paid Post programs which include in-line native ad units within the NYT Now news stream that users can click through for full access to Paid Post content.”
Times Premier is its second digital product that gives subscribers access to an array of items through smartphones, tablets and its website for $45 a month. The newspaper offers Premier subscribers access to Times Insider, a behind-the-scenes viewpoint into how reporters gather the news of the day. Another feature is TimesTalks, a program of online videos of reporters interviewing public officials, experts, authors and other newsmakers.
It also includes TBooks, a service that allows access to two free Tbooks each month; crosswords; family access; NYT store and gift subscriptions.
Both products will launch Apr. 2. Two other digital products are expected to be unveiled this summer and will have a focus on food and opinion pieces.
In recent years, more news publications have transferred their focus to the Internet. Since the average newspaper loses $7 in print for every $1 earned online, media companies have downsized their print operations and instead install a monthly subscription to online content.
In 2011, the New York Times became one of the first news outlets to implement a paywall of $15 per month, which gave its subscribers unlimited access. It also offered non-subscribers 20 free articles per month. Reports suggest the Times’ paywall initiatives have been a success much to the surprise of many.
This trend can be found worldwide and in other publications, such as the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star, the Wall Street Journal, Politico and others, have applied the paywall business model.
The Boston Globe, however, announced earlier this month that it would be dropping the paywall and add a meter instead.
“I’m sure there’s a Reagan joke to crack here, but it’s too obvious even for me. This is a huge event that means this enterprise has doubled down on the work of the newsroom,” editor Brian McGrory said in a memo. “We are betting that the more people get to sample our journalism — to read our stories, to view our photography and videography, to experience our graphics — the more likely they’ll be to subscribe to the full body of our work.”
There has been a slight surge in the newspaper business, but primarily because of billionaires. Warren Buffett acquired 28 daily newspapers, John Henry purchased the Boston Globe and Jeff Bezos made a splash when he bought the Washington Post.
