Why Capital New York’s $6,000 paywall will probably work
And why that’s not necessarily good news for news
By Dean Starkman
When Politico’s owner bought Capital New York in September, the move came as a surprise to many of us, but it could certainly be seen as a concrete assertion of the viability of Politico’s business model, which is hybrid but features aggressively priced premium subscriptions—paywalls, and expensive ones.
At the time, the Times reported Politico’s bosses planned to put up a paywall for Capital New York, and that already seemed a stretch. Capital New Yorkprovides news about media and New York politics and government, which doesn’t seem in short supply.
And when Adweek reported last week that the planned paywall will be $10 short of $6,000 dollars a year, that seemed to me an expression of the kind of hubris that is always bringing down heroes in Greek plays. Not a chance.
A year’s digital access to The New York Times costs between $195 and $455. Come on.
So, how can Capital New York expect to make this work covering … Albany?
Pretty easily, actually.