The New York Times’s ‘soft’ digital paywall has recorded some impressive results, but it’s too soon for excessive optimismWhile we’ve been hacking and spluttering, something interesting has happened in the great newspaper paywall debate: the first quarter of subscription figures from the New York Times, and perhaps the first clear indication that there may be life behind a wall. Digital subs to nytimes.com up from nothing to 224,000 customers in three months; 57,000 iPad and Kindle users joined; 750,000 print subscribers registering for online access; plus an extra 100,000 readers taking advantage of special Lincoln car ad sponsorship.In sum, well over a million newcomers and old faithfuls have done the digital thing. There’s been a seeming surge of interest in the screen version of a general-interest newspaper. And the most significant indicator of the lot – a “faint scent of success” as the Guardian puts it – is what’s happened to online advertising in the NYT through these initial months of test and anxiety. At group level, it’s gone up by 16%. It has not fallen back as fewer unique users have clicked on and, after a little heavy research, banged their heads against a paywall. On the contrary, advertising has taken the route least expected. Money from subscriptions: up. Money from ads: up. Oh! and all that appears to mean that total circulation revenue has edged up a little as well.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/aug/07/paywall-that-pays-only-in-america