• by Gavin O'Malley  @mp_gavin, August 8, 2007

The days are numbered for TimesSelect, The New York Times' much-contested subscription service, according to press reports Tuesday. Its demise would spell victory for proponents of free, ad-supported online content--not to mention scores of readers set to regain free access to prized Times columnists like Maureen Dowd and Frank Rich, along with other presently walled-off content.

Deemed a failure, the only question left for Times executives to make is "the timing of when TimesSelect will shut down," The New York Post reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed source. That decision, according to the Post's source, "hinges on resolving software issues associated with making the switch to a free service."

Times executives reached by OnlineMediaDaily said a final decision on TimesSelect has yet to be made. "We're still looking at the situation," assured Vivian Schiller, senior vice president and general manager, NYTimes.com.

"What Catherine said is the truth," stated Martin Nisenholtz, the Times' senior vice president of digital operations, referring to a statement Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis e-mailed to the Post, saying: "We continue to evaluate the best approach for NYTimes.com."

Internal criticism aimed at TimesSelect has leaked from the paper since the service's inception in late 2005. Early on, top columnists like the silver-tongued Dowd complained that it stifled Web readership.

And in February, Nicholas Ascheim, the Times' director of entertainment, video and audio products, publicly slammed TimesSelect for potentially scaring off new generations of readers who hold the power to share content as sacred.

"New generations will never get exposed," Ascheim said during a panel discussion on Web monetization at the Software & Information Industry Association's Information Industry Summit in New York.

Ascheim then added that the Times' top priority at the moment is not money, but cultivating readers. "The strategy is to build an audience," he said.

The number of Web-only subscribers paying $7.95 a month--or $49.95 a year--for TimesSelect rose in June to 224,580 from 220,090 in April, according to the Times. The total number of subscribers, meanwhile, rose to 763,000 in June from 724,000 in April. (Subscribers to the Times print edition can access TimesSelect at no additional charge).

Still, some analysts says that no matter how many subscribers TimesSelect attracts, its cost to the paper is incalculable.

"This is less about a revenue model and more about having a presence and being relevant in the context of the way people exchange information today," explained Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey.

Added McQuivey: "The traffic that a popular Frank Rich column being shared among people can drive back to the Times is huge."