June 21, 2013
NY Times for iPad
The Ny Times is planning to meter its mobile applications and let readers access as much as three articles an afternoon across any section.
The change will begin on June 27. Non-subscribers could have access to 3 stories per day from across all the publication’s 25-plus sections, blogs and slideshows.
“This change have been on our roadmap because the early days of our digital subscription model,” said Linda Zebian, a spokeswoman for The hot York Times, Long island.
“We desired to balance out the app user-experience and the volume of free content available with that of the mobile Website, in addition to the browser experience on NYTimes.com,” she said.
“We also desired to open the apps so users could explore all the content available on our mobile apps and decide content that interests them, if it is in Top News or not.”
Driving readership
As portion of the hassle, non-subscribers may also browse section fronts and article summaries.
Moreover, video remains free within the apps.
Content beyond three articles per day should be available only to subscribers.
This latest effort isn’t the same as the company’s current model, where non-subscribers can only access the highest news section on mobile news apps.
The change will go around the Ny Times’ iOS, Android, Windows Phone 7.5 and above, BlackBerry 10 and The hot York Times on Flipboard apps.
To help celebrate the launch of the mobile meter, the recent York Times will offer a seven-day free trial, including access to all sections of the apps, to users who update or download the most recent versions of the iOS and Android news apps for phones and tablets.
Past efforts
The The big apple Times isn’t any stranger in terms of mobile.
Last year, the recent York Times rolled out an Election 2012 mobile application that aimed to be a comprehensive resource for those who are following this year’s presidential campaign (see story).
Most recently, the recent York Times updated its Scoop mobile application with content from New York’s new Citi Bike program (see story).
“Mobile is still a vital a part of our corporate strategy,” Ms. Zebian said.
“We know that our users are very active on mobile devices and we wish them to have the ability to access our greatest-in-class journalism at the platforms and devices they use,” she said.
Final Take
Rimma Kats is associate editor on Mobile Marketer, New York