The New
York Times Tightens Limits on Free Mobile Reading

Previously Halved Number of Free Articles Available
Online

Published: June
20, 2013

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The New York Times will
limit the number of free stories that people can read through its mobile
software to three articles per day, part of its effort to coax more readers into
signing up for online subscriptions.

Beginning on June 27, any
mobile user of New York Times applications can view three stories in all
sections, blogs and slideshows, the company said today. Previously,
nonsubscribers could read all articles in the “Top News” section, though they
couldn’t get any material from other areas.

The Times, facing an
industry wide advertising slump, is relying more heavily on subscription fees.
Last year, revenue from subscriptions surpassed ad sales — turning the typical
business model for newspaper publishers on its
head.

“They’re trying to make the
online product more valuable,” said Edward Atorino, an analyst at Benchmark Co.
“Any step to get more digital subscribers is important because that’s the way
the industry’s going as print circulation is going
down.”

The Times introduced its
online pay wall in 2011 and tightened its monthly limit on free articles on the
web to 10 from 20
a year later. It said earlier this year that it is
planning both cheaper,
more limited digital subscriptions and a more expensive package that would also
include “extras” like preferential access to Times
events.

Paid digital subscriptions
across The New York Times Co., which also owns
the International Herald Tribune and The Boston Globe, totaled 708,000 at the
end of the first quarter, according to the company, up 45% from a year
earlier.