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Wednesday, June 24, 2009

New York Times May Charge for Mobile Apps

Hope Holland

FOXBusiness

Free mobile access to the New York Times could be nearing the end as its parent company the New York Times Co. (NYT) considers charging mobile users for subscriptions to access news.

In an interview with Bloomberg News on Tuesday, Martin Nisenholtz, the company’s head of digital operations, said the company is likely to charge for mobile subscriptions before considering charging for access to its Web sites.

He said the publisher has not yet determined the possible cost of the application.

Nisenholtz told the news agency mobile applications, including Apple Inc.’s (APPL) iPhone, offers less advertising space than the Web.

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“Mobile offers a better opportunity for paid content,” Nisenholtz was quoted as saying in the interview. “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 newspaper has a fee to access its content on Amazon.com’s Kindle portable reader, but Nisenholtz said the company’s About.com site would remain free.

The New York-based publisher has seen a continuing decline in circulation and advertising sales as the print industry suffers, but with potential mobile charges, the company will be able to import revenue and increase sales.

Nisenholtz told Bloomberg the company has been limiting ads on the Web site, creating larger and interactive advertisements to avoid competition for space with other markets.