Is Paul Krugman Worth $49.95?
TimesSelect launches today. Ever since I worked there in 97/98, Martin Nisenholtz and the team at the NYTimes have been looking for ways to get people to pay to see and use either all or sections of the site. The print side of the business has always put tremendous pressure on them not to "give away the entire paper" online. They tested an entirely paid approach prior to launch. That didn't fly. They thought about showing section headers for free but charging for everything below. No go. They charged for international access. That didn't work. They tried making people pay to do the Crossword Puzzle online. Mixed results, at best. They started charging for the Archive. No idea about the success, but it must be limited.
TimesSelect is their latest attempt. While I am upset that they decided to do it (I like reading Dowd and co. for free), It is also the first paid content idea from the NYTimes that makes sense. News is a commodity, and they knew better not to charge for something that people could find elsewhere. If they started charging for top stories and such, we could all just look at CNN, The Wash Post, or a myriad of other sources (even Google News) and found pretty much the same stuff for free.
Along with the Archive, their OpEd section and the increasing number of multimedia features on the Times' site are unique, premium content. The content cannot be found elsewhere. It is popular. It has ... value. Despite rumors to the contrary, you can charge for things with unique value on the internet.
How do you make a good idea better? I'd do three things:
1) Offer free content items from TimesSelect and give people a taste of what they're missing. Publish an Op-Ed article or a multimedia piece now and again. Prove the value that The Times is offering. It would give the bloggers something to blog now and again as well, and that is a nice side benefit.
2) The section front of TimesSelect should be much much better than what is there now. Premium content deserves a premium look-and-feel. The current design looks like shit.
3) Find a way for people who buy the paper to access TimesSelect for the day. This is a must-have, and I'm surprised that they launched without it. Paid is paid, after all.
For more, see:
Oh yes, the (New York) Times, they are a chargin' ...
NYTimes letter from the Editor.
FAQ: What is TimesSelect?
Monday, September 19, 2005
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