Newsday to charge for Internet content

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Beginning next Wednesday (10/28), Newsday is putting most of its Internet content behind a pay wall with a $5 weekly fee. The Long Island newspaper is currently urging home delivery subscribers and subscribers to parent Cablevision’s Optimum Online to register for free access, which is included with their subscriptions.


Once the pay model take effect, most content will be available only to paying customers. Internet users who don’t pay will still have access to newsday.com’s home page, school closings, weather, obituaries, classified and entertainment listings. The company said there will be some limited access to Newsday stories.

In announcing the pay wall, Newsday claimed it is a “pioneering Web model.” It noted that about 75% of Long Island households are customers of Newsday home delivery, Cablevision’s online service, or both.

“We are excited about this model because in addition to a unique ability to immediately reach about 75% of Long Island households, we believe the hyper-local approach is right for Long Island,” said Debby Krenek, Newsday managing editor and senior vice president/digital, in a statement on the newspaper’s still-free website.

RBR-TVBR observation: Idiots. Cablevision overpaid with its $650 million purchase of Newsday. Now it is going to further devalue that asset by ensuring that people in younger demos will never have any interest in Newsday’s content. Anyone care to predict how many years it will be before it is shut down?