New York Magazine’s Sites Are Going Behind a Paywall
Pamela Wasserstein, the chief executive of New York Media, has fielded inquiries from people interested in buying the company behind New York magazine.CreditBobby Doherty/New York Magazine
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Pamela Wasserstein, the chief executive of New York Media, has fielded inquiries from people interested in buying the company behind New York magazine.CreditCreditBobby Doherty/New York Magazine
By Jaclyn Peiser
New York Media, the parent company of New York magazine, will become the latest publisher to institute a paywall when it starts charging for access to its websites.
Under its longtime editor, Adam Moss, New York was a pioneer in breaking various areas of coverage into separate websites known as verticals. Its related online offerings are composed of the flagship NYMag.com, The Cut (fashion), Grub Street (food), Intelligencer (politics), The Strategist (shopping) and Vulture (pop culture).
The move to a metered paywall has been in the works for a year, said Pamela Wasserstein, the daughter of the late New York magazine owner Bruce Wasserstein and the company’s chief executive since 2016.
The pay model, which will allow readers a number of stories free before shutting off access, will go into effect the last week of November, according to the company, which would not specify a date for the change.
NYMag.com will undergo a slight redesign at the same time. Mr. Moss said he planned to further incorporate the content from the various sites into the flagship site.
The paywall will not apply to The City, a soon-to-debut nonprofit site focused on coverage of New York City, which announced a partnership with the magazine in September.
With the magazine industry in financial trouble, the New York sites have maintained a loyal readership. According to Comscore, its family of sites had 29 million unique viewers in September, a 45 percent increase compared with last year. The print publication’s average circulation has held steady at over 400,000, with about 300,000 in home subscriptions and roughly 90,000 of that number denoting copies sent to doctors’ offices and other business locations.
In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that New York Media was exploring a sale. In an interview last week, Ms. Wasserstein said that interested parties had contacted her and she did not deny taking their inquiries seriously.
“Frankly, it’s nice that people find us interesting and are interested in what we do,” she said.
Pamela Wasserstein, the chief executive of New York Media, has fielded inquiries from people interested in buying the company behind New York magazine.CreditBobby Doherty/New York Magazine
Image
Pamela Wasserstein, the chief executive of New York Media, has fielded inquiries from people interested in buying the company behind New York magazine.CreditCreditBobby Doherty/New York Magazine
By Jaclyn Peiser
- Nov. 12, 2018
New York Media, the parent company of New York magazine, will become the latest publisher to institute a paywall when it starts charging for access to its websites.
Under its longtime editor, Adam Moss, New York was a pioneer in breaking various areas of coverage into separate websites known as verticals. Its related online offerings are composed of the flagship NYMag.com, The Cut (fashion), Grub Street (food), Intelligencer (politics), The Strategist (shopping) and Vulture (pop culture).
The move to a metered paywall has been in the works for a year, said Pamela Wasserstein, the daughter of the late New York magazine owner Bruce Wasserstein and the company’s chief executive since 2016.
The pay model, which will allow readers a number of stories free before shutting off access, will go into effect the last week of November, according to the company, which would not specify a date for the change.
NYMag.com will undergo a slight redesign at the same time. Mr. Moss said he planned to further incorporate the content from the various sites into the flagship site.
The paywall will not apply to The City, a soon-to-debut nonprofit site focused on coverage of New York City, which announced a partnership with the magazine in September.
With the magazine industry in financial trouble, the New York sites have maintained a loyal readership. According to Comscore, its family of sites had 29 million unique viewers in September, a 45 percent increase compared with last year. The print publication’s average circulation has held steady at over 400,000, with about 300,000 in home subscriptions and roughly 90,000 of that number denoting copies sent to doctors’ offices and other business locations.
In August, The Wall Street Journal reported that New York Media was exploring a sale. In an interview last week, Ms. Wasserstein said that interested parties had contacted her and she did not deny taking their inquiries seriously.
“Frankly, it’s nice that people find us interesting and are interested in what we do,” she said.
