[Infowarrior] - Let's Hear it For Paywalls...

[Richard Forno]

After Three Months, Only 35 Subscriptions for Newsday's Web Site

By John Koblin
January 26, 2010 | 3:04 p.m

In late October, Newsday, the Long Island daily that the Dolans bought  
for $650 million, put its web site, newsday.com, behind a pay wall.  
The paper was one of the first non-business newspapers to take the  
plunge by putting up a pay wall, so in media circles it has been  
followed with interest. Could its fate be a sign of what others,  
including The New York Times, might expect?
So, three months later, how many people have signed up to pay $5 a  
week, or $260 a year, to get unfettered access to newsday.com?

The answer:  35 people. As in fewer than three dozen. As in a decent- 
sized elementary-school class.

That astoundingly low figure was revealed in a newsroom-wide meeting  
last week by publisher Terry Jimenez when a reporter asked how many  
people had signed up for the site. Mr. Jimenez didn't know the number  
off the top of his head, so he asked a deputy sitting near him. He  
replied 35.

Michael Amon, a social services reporter, asked for clarification.

"I heard you say 35 people," he said, from Newsday's auditorium in  
Melville. "Is that number correct?"

Mr. Jimenez nodded.

Hellville, indeed.

The web site redesign and relaunch cost the Dolans $4 million,  
according to Mr. Jimenez. With those 35 people, they've grossed about  
$9,000.

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http://www.observer.com/2010/media/after-three-months-only-35-subscriptions-newsdays-web-site#