Times to Start Metering Frequent Readers in 2011

New York Times reporter RICHARD PÉREZ-PEÑA’s lead calls it “a step that has tempted and terrified much of the newspaper industry.”

The Times announced on Wednesday that it is developing an e-commerce software system to meter use of NYTimes.com and charge non-subscribers who are frequent visitors.

Starting a year from now, you will need either a subscription to the newspaper or its online product for unlimited access to NYTimes.com.

Other readers will continue to have free access to the site — directly or by following links from Google News or RSS feeds, up to a to-be-determined number of articles.

Times President Janet L. Robinson and Martin A. Nisenholtz, senior vice president for digital operations, will be answering questions from readers today on the “Talk to The Times” page.

A 21-questions FAQ file says search engines will still deliver readers to Times stories, but after reading the found story, clicking through to additional Times stories will count toward a monthly limit.

The story’s sidebar is  Dialing in a Plan: The Times Installs a Meter on Its Future by media business columnist David Carr.

“By setting the meter back a ways, The New York Times can maintain not only visibility on the Web, but also still participate in selling a mass audience to advertisers,” Carr says.

Related: Staci D. Kramer at PaidContent.org, including a memo to the Times staff first posted at Romenesko

Finally, here’s the press release from NYTimesCo

“Our new business model is designed to provide additional support for The New York Times’ extraordinary, professional journalism,” said Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., chairman of The New York Times Company and publisher of The New York Times. “Our audiences are very loyal and we believe that our readers will pay for our award-winning digital content and services.”