Content Matters

The New York Times today introduced Times Select.

Times Select is available free to paid subscribers to the print product (NYT or International Herald Tribune), and as a paid service for non-print subscribers at $7.95 per month or $49.95 per year.

Times Select subscribers get a number of benefits:

§          Up to 100 articles from the NY Times archives (normally $3.95 per article)

§          More comprehensive Op/Ed materials, including some interactive capabilities

§          Early preview of Sunday Times content such as the Book Review

§          Some simple tools for creating alerts, tracking and storing Times articles of interest

I believe Times Select will be successful for the NY Times.  First, it provides their print subscribers with an additional benefit beyond what the rest of the world can get for free.  Personally, I’m happy to know that I get something extra for my paid subscription (beyond slightly blackened fingertips at the end of my train ride each morning).  Secondly, it provides the Times with the ability to shift content over time from the free site to paid.  While initially only the OpEd columnists (such as Kristof, Friedman and Dowd) will be solely for Select customers, it’s likely that other non-news features will be similarly moved across over time.

The NY Times has always been successful in its core business.  New York Times Digital has been hugely successful in expanding the Times brand beyond its traditional users and borders (roughly 20% of the online subscribers are outside the United States).  Now, the Times has developed a framework to allow it to cultivate an additional tier of customers between their paid print subscribers and free access users: paid online subscribers.  In addition to the revenues generated from selling the Times Select service, there should also be new advertising and sponsorship opportunities.  The name alone, Times Select, sounds tailor-made for special advertising targeting an upscale audience at higher CPMs than the current offering.

The Times continues to effectively balance the benefits provided to its advertisers, its paid subscribers and free users.  It’s a model that other content companies might want to emulate.