The New York Times has set a date for the launch of its so-called "metered" pay model: January 2011. Times executive editor Bill Keller revealed the news while speaking at a dinner event for the
Foreign Press Association on Thursday, according to
Fast Company. Still, "We don't know what
Keller's latest thinking on pricing is, or whether the new pay-protected Times will follow the Net edition model adopted by the original London Times, which is to make the Web version very much like
the paper edition." In February, Janet Robinson, The Times Co.'s president and CEO, said the company was on track to launch its metered model, which involves charging for high levels of online content
consumption. As to why the company is holding off for an entire year, The Times' own David Carr said the delay allowed executives to "land" the announcement, "with some authority, but not much
impact." In January, the company promoted its VP of advertising Paul Smurl to spearhead the effort as VP of NYTimes.com paid products.