Surprise, surprise, the New York Times paywall works! Or so the pundits say.
On the second anniversary of the paywall’s implementation, NYT boasts 390,000 digital subscribers, 30% higher than their internal benchmark, and Ken Doctor estimates that brings in $86 million in revenue for the Gray Lady.
However, that 390,000 number seems a bit inflated, with NYT giving print subscribers access to digital content for free. Management seems particularly gleeful that the paywall has increased home-delivery rates, as if this is all a clever ruse to bring back newspaper-inked hands at breakfast. Clearly they haven’t read our sister site’s case study on Consumer Reports, which smartly values its digital content by getting print subscribers to pay separately for online access.
The Times has done some smart things, though, like their single-day promotions for Cyber Monday and deal with Ford to “gift” their first 100,000 subscribers, thus inflating their year-one numbers to skeptical audiences (NYT says it had good conversion rates after the promo ended, but no numbers). And while general media commentators seem cautionary, warning that subscriptions can’t be a solitary revenue stream (nor make up for lost revenue from bad business practices), our readers have known that for some time.
So congrats to the Gray Lady for catching up with the (paywall) times. And congrats to you, dear reader, for being smarter than them.
PS: For a great behind-the-scenes look at how incredibly boring it is to implement a paywall launch and track it in real-time, read Joe Pompeo’s piece in Capital.
