New York Times looks to mobile as way to charge for content

by Staff, Brand Republic 25-Jun-09, 09:00

NEW YORK - The New York Times is moving forward with its plans for paid content and is considering testing the waters by charging mobile phone users.

Earlier this year the New York Times said it was looking at options for charging for online content. It is now looking at charging for its mobile phone content ahead of any moves it makes on the web.

The success of applications on the Apple iPhone has convinced many that it and other mobile platforms could offer a way forward for newspapers in terms of paid content, according to Martin Nisenholtz, senior vice president, digital operations for The New York Times Company.

Nisenholtz said mobile offers a better opportunity for paid content and he saw no future to publishers offering their content on mobiles for free.

Nisenholtz told Bloomberg: "For publishers to offer their content for free in the mobile platform forever without getting paid very much money, I don't think it's going to be tenable."

The New York Times, like many newspapers, is available for free on the iPhone. At the moment Nisenholtz said the publisher had not yet decided how much it would charge for a New York Times application.

The New York Times already charges for access to content on Amazon.com's Kindle e-reader and Nisenholtz said the paper would eventually be available on multiple platforms.