• Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Friday, May 25, 2007 10:47 AM

CNN is ditching the idea of charging a subscription fee for its CNN Pipeline video news service, which will now be absorbed into a newly designed Internet package. Launched in late 2005, the $25-per-year service (which was later $2.95 per month and $.99 per day), provides four streams of video with footage of breaking news. The international news service doesn't say how many subscribers Pipeline has, but on its best day--the fifth anniversary of 9/11--Pipeline pulled in 1.2 million viewers, a day when Pipeline was free.

With Pipeline, CNN planned to reach American office workers who check news periodically throughout the day. But like other video providers, the company found out that Web users simply don't want to pay for content. Of course, CNN cited the lower-cost of delivering video as the primary reason to give up charging. Which means an ad-supported model becomes a more viable alternative.

The pay-for model has worked for almost no one, with the notable exception of international business journals like the Economist, and The Wall Street Journal. But even these publications offer a certain amount of their content for free.

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