New York Times Unveils Two New Paywall Tiers, Takes a Risk with Native Ads

By Katherine Noyes The New York Times on Wednesday announced that it is expanding its digital subscription product offerings with two new tiered options:

By Katherine NoyesThe New York Times on Wednesday announced that it is expanding its digital subscription product offerings with two new tiered options: NYT Now, an entry-level plan that offers a limited set of content at a price below the standard subscription rate, and Times Premier, an upper-level subscription plan “designed for the most enthusiastic and engaged Times subscribers,” the company said. Whereas a standard New York Times digital subscription starts at $3.75 per week (that’s $15 every four weeks), NYT Now will be priced as a stand-alone product at $8 every four weeks and will include unlimited access to the new NYT Now app for iPhone and iPod touch. Among the mobile-oriented service’s notable features will be a morning briefing and an evening briefing, daily tip sheets summarizing world, national, business, culture and other news, and an “Our Picks” section showcasing a curated selection of stories from around the Web. NYT Now will be free for existing subscribers.Coinciding with the launch of NYT Now, meanwhile, is the official debut on mobile devices of native advertising. Dubbed Paid Posts, the new branded content will show up first on NYT Now, followed by The Times’s core news app in the coming months. Cartier is the official launch sponsor.The Times Premier subscription, on the other hand, will cost $45 every four weeks — $10 for home-delivery subscribers. Included in that price is not just All Digital Access but also additional benefits such as exclusive access to Times Insider, a new feature that provides a behind-the-scenes look at how The Times newsroom creates its stories; two free “TBooks” each month; a handpicked four-pack of themed crossword puzzles each month; and — particularly cleverly — the ability to give a 12-week Times All Digital Access gift subscription to up to three friends each year.This latest move from The Times is strikingly similar to what we saw People magazine do late last year, including even the bundling of gift subscriptions. In this case, however, offering not just one but three trial offers a year is nothing short of genius. Why? Beyond simply signing up three new readers each year, it allows the publication to create word-of-mouth marketing, which is often the best form of marketing out there.At the opposite end of the spectrum, we worry about the new native advertising plan, which has the distinct potential to make already price-sensitive NYT Now subscribers wonder why they’re paying for a subscription in the first place. Once Paid Posts expand to core news subscribers, that possibility will get even more worrisome. We’ve written about the perils of native advertising before, and Google News has made it clear it won’t index sponsored content. We’re hoping The Times has thought this through very, very carefully.

Up Next

Register Now For Email Subscription News Updates!

Search this site

You May Be Interested in: