Living without the New York Times

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I've been careful not to click on their articles. I get that I have a leeway of twenty articles a month, but even within that it isn't easy, as I have some hundreds of saved articles I sometimes look at. Especially recipes. I'll have to copy them twenty or so at a time. I've advanced to throwing away Bittman, a guy I've always liked.

I figure I've messed up something like fourteen times, by not paying enough attention on google news, and it's only the 16th.
I put NYT at the bottom of my news list.

Anyone else dealing with this? And don't tell me it is only fifteen dollars a month.

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@ossobuco,

I have been intentionally shying away from the NYTimes since the new policy has gone into effect. I wish they'd be more up front on the actual subscription cost.

Is the so called unlimited subscription really $15 a month? Doesn't sound right to me. Then again I haven't actively looked.

3 Replies

@tsarstepan,

I don't have it, the $15., so it isn't an issue.

I think it is shortsighted of the folk there, but I can get their (to me) arrogance.
I can somewhat understand their own money issues, but I think this is a short haul way to go for them, while it has cost them a lot of money to work out, so they are invested in this all working.

Meantime, for the rest of us, a catapult into haves and have nots re information written up by respected scribes.

1 Reply

@tsarstepan,

There are entry subscriptions.
Pah.

0 Replies

@ossobuco,

Fifteen dollars a month for something with a marginal cost of zero. I would have to let it go, too.

1 Reply

@roger,

Their cost is zero? I don't understand all the money, but I know the corp has enough money.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

Marginal cost is zero. Once the site is constructed and content added, it costs them nothing to allow one more person access. Certainly, they aren't paying for paper or delivery, which makes $15.00/month very, very high.

I could have renewed my recent subscription to the Wall Street Journal at a cost of $248/year. Too much, even though it's a good paper. I won't go over $150, and they know it. The choice is theirs.

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@ossobuco,

I used to use the NYT a lot, but now mostly not. You can get around the limit for the moment by finding it on Yahoo News or Google news...I sometimes go to the NYT homepage, see something that I want to read, then use a couple choice words in yahoo news search to get to it, either linked to the NYT's or someone carrying it on AP. Going this way does not count on your limit.

$15 a month for no delivery cost news? **** that. I am using NPR more, as well as the European services which I have always liked better but was too lazy to deal with the translations. Now that Google translation is pretty good I dont mind, so I go to the German News sites as well as BBC. The only American services that I use everyday now is Washington Post and Slate. I miss the Economist, which was mostly taken behind a paid wall about 9 months ago, but not enough to pay for it.

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@ossobuco,

Quote:

I think it is shortsighted of the folk there, but I can get their (to me) arrogance.

It is desperation...the empire is imploding, done in by over a decade of bad management, Murdock, a sustained attack from conservatives, and the fact that the newspaper business is dying. Ownership is trying to find a revenue stream so that they can stay afloat, but I am not seeing where they have a sustainable plan to do that. I am thinking that they are regretting building their very expensive new world HQ, opened in 07 but as I recall NYT's was forced to sell a 40% stake in it a year later to raise cash, and the shrinking empire now need only half the building.

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@roger,

I gather they spent a lot to construct this new NYT phantasmagoria, so they won't be backing off soon. I'll deal with it, already am. I've been weening myself, looking elsewhere.

$248 a year for the wall street journal? Step on my digits, I think that's just wrong.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

It's probably a fair price in some sense, but it isn't going to work for me. I used to read front page, browse the rest of section A, and then go through editorials, commentary, etc. Basically, I was using one quarter of the paper and paying for the whole shebang. I don't know what they charge for web access on a stand alone basis, but I've never been well satisfied with the layout or navagation system.

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@hawkeye10,

Gaah, for NYT, re 40% of the building. But also, dare I say dumb in the first place? maybe not, maybe they are primarily a real estate co.

1 Reply

@ossobuco,

ossobuco wrote:

Gaah, for them, re 40% of the building. But also, dare I say dumb?

I was wrong, they did a re-fi in 07, selling part of the building was the plan from the start.

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Quote:

The Wall Street Journal Pricing Plan

If you want to subscribe to The Wall Street Journal, here are your options:

Full print and digital access: $37 a month or $441 a year
Print only: $30 a month; $363 a year
Digital Plus (Web and mobile devices): $18 a month; $216 a year
Tablet edition: $1.99 per day single copy; $17 a month; $207 a year.
Web only: $13 a month; $155 a year
(The note at the bottom of this post explains how I calculated these.)

The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times compete on newsstands in New York. (Mark Lennihan/AP)
The Journal’s pricing structure seems pretty straightforward. The Web is by far the cheapest subscription option. Mobile access costs about $5 more per month than basic Web access. Accessing print and digital editions costs $7 more a month than print alone.

As a consumer, those are clear choices. Though I may wish for a lower price for digital and mobile access, the structure makes sense.

So my cheapest option to access the Journal online and via iPad and iPhone apps would be the Tablet edition package, which would cost me $207 a year. I can read the paper online, on my iPhone or on my iPad, and I don’t need to have the print edition delivered.

The New York Times Pricing Plan

The Times is not so straightforward in its approach. There are more print subscription packages for the Times, which publishes every day compared to the Journal’s six days a week. And the delivery rates are higher for the rest of the country outside the New York metro area.

As with the Journal, any print subscription includes full access to the website, iPad and smartphone apps.

Home delivery outside of New York
7 Days: $64 a month or $770 a year
Friday-Sunday: $45 a month or $541 a year
Sunday: $33 a month or $390 a year
Weekday: $32 a month or $385 a year
Digital only
Web and smartphone apps: $16 a month or $195 a year
Web and tablet apps: $22 a month or $260 a year
Web, smartphone and tablet apps: $38 a month or $455 a year

http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/media-lab/mobile-media/124900/the-new-york-times-subscription-plan-doesnt-protect-print-it-promotes-the-mobile-web/

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@roger,

roger wrote:

Marginal cost is zero. Once the site is constructed and content added, it costs them nothing to allow one more person access. Certainly, they aren't paying for paper or delivery, which makes $15.00/month very, very high.

I could have renewed my recent subscription to the Wall Street Journal at a cost of $248/year. Too much, even though it's a good paper. I won't go over $150, and they know it. The choice is theirs.

248/year = .68 cents per day.
15/month = .50cents per day

What does a daily newspaper cost?
save a tree or two.

Not zero cost. journos and office space to house them cost money. All readers need to share the cost and profit margin. Advertising is less effective on the web so their revenue stream is reduced.

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@dadpad,

http://www.poynter.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/03/degusta.png

1 Reply

@hawkeye10,

I need to have my Tues SCience Section. And my SUnday Arts. NYT does a rathjer shitty job on sports unless the team is in NYC itself.

1 Reply

@farmerman,

I had a 15 year habit of reading the Sunday Paper, no matter where I lived. I used to read it up to two weeks late while in Europe.

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@dadpad,

But I didn't say zero cost. I said zero marginal cost, and the statement was specific to online delivery only. By the way, their charge for advertising depends on the number of subscriptions.

0 Replies

http://adage.com/article/mediaworks/lincoln-ad-offers-free-access-york-times-online/149484/

Quote:

Interstitial ads from Lincoln on The Times' website are offering some readers "Free, Unlimited Access to NYTimes.com" for the rest of the year.

The value of that offer is close to $150. There's no catch, either -- you just have to be selected.

The offer will be made to about 200,000 of the Times's heaviest online readers who aren't home delivery subscribers, according to Lincoln, which expects about 100,000 people will actually activate it.

1 Reply

Living without the New York Times

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