While the column mentioned that the Minute isn't one of those subscribers, we found someone who is: our friend Jonathan, a 41-year-old art director who is not a member of the liberal media elite. He doesn't read print newspapers, but he is a news junkie. In fact, CNN.com is his home page. He continues to subscribe to newsweeklies including Time, Newsweek, and U.S. News & World Report.

He doesn't receive the print edition of the New York Times at home, but he is a regular NYTimes.com user and when TimesSelect debuted, he didn't hesitate to purchase a $49.95 annual subscription. He wanted to maintain access to the content he valued and to have access to the archives, MoDo [Maureen Dowd], Tom [Friedman], and the other columnists and special features. Jonathan says he's a big MoDo fan and wouldn't miss her for anything.

And here are a few other salient points about Jonathan: He's an early adopter. In fact, he recently purchased a video iPod (it was his 4th iPod). He has a TiVo (he's on his third unit and this one even records DVDs), he owns a Philips flat-screen plasma TV (we won't tell you where he purchased it), and here's a shock: He doesn't read blogs. Nope, no blogs for Jonathan, although he occasionally checks the Drudge Report.

We think this means that TimesSelect should find more people like Jonathan who are passionate about news and loyal to columnists.

Don't get us wrong. We might indulge in TimesSelect in the future, but we find no compelling "can't live without it" reason today. We just don't love those columnists enough, and try as we may, are not interested enough in the other features. We know that content on the Web will manifest in a number of different business models in the near- and long-term. Advertising-supported models are great, but they are increasingly supplemented by premium, for-pay services. There will come a time when a majority of content will come at a cost--either an annual subscription fee, a one-time use charge, or other scheme. This is going to happen. It is happening.

And don't think that TimesSelect hasn't affected readership of the pundits like MoDo. For example, the New York Observer reports that "not even she could break the chains of TimesSelect. For the first time ever, not one regular Op-Ed column made it onto the Most E-Mailed list." So, that's MoDo, Tom, Bob Herbert, Nicholas Kristof, Paul Krugman, Frank Rich, and John Tierney.

Lastly, we remind online agencies that we are accepting briefs for our agency of the year competition. The deadline for submissions is Nov. 21. For more information, go to: http://www.mediapost.com/survey_processor.cfm?fa=dspIAY

This commentary is insightful. I recommend it to others.