NY Times Bets Big on Their Muscle, Announces Paywall

Starting March 28, you get 20 articles a month. That’s it. Beyond that, it’s $15 for 4 weeks for the web and smartphone package, $20 for iPad access, and $35 for both. The idea is that casual readers will still be able to be exposed to the content for free while heavy users will need to encouraged to pay for content.

This is the big test. If anyone can do it, it’s the NY Times, and publishers will be watching closely starting today as this rolls out in Canada.

“This move is an investment in our future,” Arthur Sulzberger Jr., chairman of The New York Times Company, said. “It will allow us to develop new sources of revenue to support the continuation of our journalistic mission and digital innovation, while maintaining our large and growing audience to support our robust advertising business. And this system is our latest, and best, demonstration of where we believe the future of valued content — be it news, music, games or more — is going.”

If it works, this could draw more publications to the paywall game.