Business

Final test for Times pay wall

Tick. tick. tick.

The time appears to be fast approaching for the New York Times to finally put its Web site behind a pay wall.

“The pay model for nytimes.com is in the final testing stage, and we expect it will launch shortly,” said New York Times Co. President and CEO Janet Robinson prior to a Morgan Stanley Media conference yesterday.

Robinson declined to pinpoint an exact date or price. The publisher had earlier said it hoped to start charging at the end of the first quarter and would price its offering at under $20 a month.

The type of pay wall is still under wraps, but last year the Gray Lady said it may use a metered model that allows a certain amount of content to be viewed free.

On the print side, the newspaper expects to see continued circulation erosion along the lines the company experienced in the second half of 2010. Circulation revenue is off and print advertising revenue was down in the low single digits in February, she said.