CNN paywall: Will you pay $3.99 a month for the network’s online content?

[LAUREN TAYLOR]

YOU KNOW THE FEELING. YOU SEE AN ARTICLE ON A NEWS SITE THAT PIQUES YOUR INTEREST, YOU GO TO CLICK ON IT AND THEN YOU GET THE NOTICE: THERE’S A PAYWALL.

NEWS ORGANIZATIONS LOOKING FOR ONLINE REVENUE BEYOND DIGITAL ADVERTISING TURN TO PAYWALLS TO HELP BOOST THEIR BOTTOM LINE. AND LEGACY BRANDS LIKE THE NEW YORK TIMES AND BLOOMBERG HAVE BEEN ABLE TO BUILD AN ONLINE SUBSCRIBER BASE THAT WAY – BUT TELEVISION NETWORKS HAVE FOR THE MOST PART STEERED CLEAR OF MAKING READERS PAY FOR THEIR CONTENT.

TODAY THAT CHANGED WITH THE INTRODUCTION OF A PAYWALL BY A CERTAIN NEWS ORGANIZATION YOU MAY HAVE HEARD OF…

CNN IS ROLLING OUT ITS FIRST-EVER WEBSITE PAYWALL – CHARGING SOME ONLINE VISITORS THREE DOLLARS AND NINETY NINE ($3.99) CENTS A MONTH FOR ACCESS TO CNN DOT COM.

IN A MEMO – CNN’S EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT OF DIGITAL PRODUCTS ALEX MACCALLUM WRITES, “WE ARE ASKING USERS IN THE UNITED STATES TO PAY A SMALL RECURRING FEE FOR UNLIMITED ACCESS TO CNN.COM’S WORLD-CLASS ARTICLES.”

MACCALLUM – A FORMER NEW YORK TIMES EXEC – SAYS CNN READERS WILL ONLY BE PROMPTED ABOUT PAYING THE FEE IF THEY REACH A CERTAIN NUMBER OF FREE ARTICLES A MONTH.

SHE ADDS THE CNN SUBSCRIPTION WILL INCLUDE ACCESS TO ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARIES, EXCLUSIVE ELECTION COVERAGE, AND FEWER DIGITAL ADS.

CNN HOPING PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR THE NEWS THEY ARE USED TO GETTING FOR FREE. IN ITS OWN NEWS ARTICLE ABOUT THE PAYWALL – CNN CITES A REUTERS INSTITUTE SURVEY THAT SAYS ONLY ONE IN FIVE AMERICANS CURRENTLY PAY FOR ONLINE NEWS.

AND CNN IS NOT ALONE – OLIVER DARCY – FORMERLY WITH THE CABLE NEWS NETWORK – NOW WITH HIS OWN MEDIA-FOCUSED NEWS SERVICE – STATUS – REPORTED ON WEDNESDAY THAT VOX MEDIA’S TECH WEBSITE “THE VERGE” WILL ALSO BE STARTING ITS OWN PAYWALL SYSTEM.

DARCY REPORTS THAT ITS UNCLEAR THE EXACT TIMING – BUT LIKE CNN’S PLANS – VERGE SUBSCRIBERS WILL RECEIVE BONUS MATERIAL.

IF YOU WANT TO KNOW FROM DARCY’S NEWSLETTER – YOU’LL HAVE TO SUBSCRIBE – IT’S BEHIND A PAYWALL.

BUT THE VERGE AND CNN SEEM TO BE REVERSING THE RECENT TREND OF NEWS SITES GETTING RID OF PAYWALLS.

EARLIER THIS YEAR – AXIOS – WHICH IS NOT BEHIND A PAYWALL – REPORTED ON SEVERAL SITES WHO RID THEMSELVES OF THEIR SUBSCRIPTION PLANS – INCLUDING TECH CRUNCH AND QUARTZ.

AND THEN THERE WAS TIME MAGAZINE – WHICH IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE COMPANY’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY —  REMOVED ITS PAYWALL ON ITS WEBSITE.

“We believe that getting access to Time.com is critical. We believe that being able to reach audiences that are diverse, that are global, that are younger, to have our content available to everyone everywhere globally for free is really important. Not only for the next decade before the next 100 years. This was not a hard decision for me, as the CEO of time. This was important in terms of the new cycle that we’re in and making our trusted journalism available.”

BUT NOW COME THE YET-TO-BE-ANSWERED QUESTIONS —  HOW MANY PEOPLE WILL PAY FOR CNN’S CONTENT AND WILL IT LEAD TO OTHER NETWORKS FOLLOWING SUIT?

A GOOD BAROMETER FOR THE SUCCESS OF THE PAYWALL STRATEGY WOULD BE TO SEE HOW TIME HAS BEEN DOING SINCE ITS SWITCH.

ADWEEK TOOK A CLOSE LOOK OVER THE SUMMER AND FOUND THAT TIME’S ADVERTISING REVENUE ROSE SINCE DITCHING THE PAYWALL STRUCTURE.

ADWEEK WENT ON TO REPORT FURTHER – BUT THAT PART IS BEHIND A PAYWALL.

FOR STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS, I’M LAUREN TAYLOR – VISIT OUR WEBSITE SAN DOT COM OR DOWNLOAD THE STRAIGHT ARROW NEWS APP FOR MORE OF OUR STORIES.