The New York Times Is accelerating its move to digital with today’s announcement of a paid mobile application called NYT Now.
The Times said in a statement that NYT Now is a new subscription plan created for an audience seeking more content than is currently available for free but at a lower price than the full news report. The company also rolled out Times Premier, which is a higher-tier plan that brings more content to readers.
NYT Now will be available on April 2 at a stand-alone cost of $8 every four weeks. The standalone subscription includes unlimited access to the new NYT Now App for iPhone and iPod touch, which will also be offered to all existing digital and home delivery subscribers as a free supplemental benefit.
The Times Premier subscription will run $45 every four weeks or $10 extra every four weeks for home delivery subscribers.
At the center of the NYT Now subscription offering is the new NYT Now App for iPhone and iPod touch, The Times’s first standalone news product beyond the core news app. The new app will offer a curated selection of New York Times content for a fast and engaging news experience. The NYT Now app will be edited by two-time Pulitzer Prize-winner Cliff Levy and is designed for readers to quickly catch up on top stories from The Times.
Levy and a staff of more than 10 editors hand-select articles, videos, infographics and slideshows from NYTimes.com to be included in NYT Now. The NYT Now editors then tailor the article headlines and summaries for the mobile reader.
But the new mobile offering also takes the Times deeper into the mobile advertising space.
NYT Now will include Paid Posts, The Times’s native advertising product, on mobile devices. Paid Post units and branded content will begin appearing on NYT Now on April 2 and on The Times’s core news app for iPhone and iPod touch and mobile website in the coming months.
Paid Posts will become available on some of The Times’s other smartphone and tablet apps later this year.
Advertising on NYT Now will consist exclusively of Paid Post programs which include in-line native ad units within the NYT Now news stream that users can click through for full access to Paid Post content.
Cartier is the official launch sponsor of NYT Now.
