The New York Times is taking yet another giant leap into mobile. The Times announced on Wednesday that it plans to expand its digital subscription options with two new apps: NYT Now and NYT Premier.
Currently, readers who prefer to read the New York Times online or in mobile apps get to read 10 articles for free every month. The Times stated that this option will still be available for those who get only a portion of their news from the iconic New York-based newspaper, but it aims to satisfy its readers' different needs with more options.
Denise Warren, the company's executive vice president for digital products and services, stated that the new apps will offer different amounts of digital content, so that readers can decide just how much content they want and what price they are willing to pay.
"We see it as three options," she said. "Essential, which is NYT Now; extensive, which is the core subscription package; and exclusive, which is the premier plan."
The most basic version of NYT Now will cost $8 a month and feature a carefully curated selection of articles, infographics, videos and more. The entry-level subscription will also include a morning and evening briefing every day with highlights of the day's top news. The New York Times fully acknowledges that most of its digital readers don't have time to leaf through a full newspaper - they just need a quick run down of the most important news and a few key, in-depth reports to sate their thirst for news.
"NYT Now cuts through the vast amount of content available on the web and social media to provide the most essential stories of the moment, hand-selected by some of the most thoughtful and discerning journalists in our newsroom," executive editor Jill Abramson said.
Clifford Levy, the editor of NYT Now, said that the new app is just another "leap like we took when we went from print to the web." He sees it as the natural extension of the Times' digital services and hopes that readers feel that way, too.
NYT Premier will cost a whopping $45 a month, but gives readers full access to New York Times content. The Premier app is for the biggest of Times addicts, who love to read every last word written by Times' journalists and access multimedia content as well. Although these subscribers will probably be few and far between, the Times is convinced that they do exist and intends to target them.
Many Premier subscribers might be former physical newspaper addicts who are finally considering making the switch, now that the digital age has proved that it is here to stay. Other possible subscribers include journalism professors and their students, who are sick of toting around the physical newspaper.
The New York Times has amassed 760,000 digital subscribers since its paywall debuted and the company needs to convince more readers to pay for its content if its digital ventures are going to succeed. The Times gets half of its online traffic from mobile devices, so the expansion of its app offerings is a logical step forward for the company.
"Our goal with this next phase of our paid products strategy is to satisfy the demand for Times journalism by giving new subscribers the ability to choose the amount of access they desire at a price point that suits them, and to enhance the value we offer our current loyal subscribers," CEO Mark Thompson said in a statement.
NYT Now and NYT Premier will only be available for iPhone users when the apps debut on April 2, but the Times will most likely add the apps to iPad, Android and Windows soon.
