NEWSDAY TO CHARGE FOR WEB CONTENT
Free for Optimum Online and Newsday subscribers
The great Neil Best of Newsday explains it all for his readers. Neil defends his employer’s decision, comparing the website’s value not just to luxury items like movies and TV, but more vital stuff like phone service, pizza, beer (!) and ice cream (!!). Some Long Islanders won’t have to pay the cost because so many subscribe to Newsday or optonline. However, if you are not in New York or don’t pay for one of their services, you’re looking at $250 a year for their web content. Your reaction?
223 Responses to NEWSDAY TO CHARGE FOR WEB CONTENT
Free for Optimum Online and Newsday subscribers
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bergie20 says:
there a few newspapers worth paying for online (eg. the wsj). newsday is definitely not of one these papers. i think most other people will agree. i don’t expect this to be a succesful venture for newsday.
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Cary says:
I love Newsday. I’m from LI but now live in New Mexico.
$250 a year? Ain’t gonna happen.
No second thoughts.
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and i can’t get optimum online or cablevision where i live in brooklyn because they told me that if you share a bathroom or kitchen, then you aren’t allowed.
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Oren says:
Live in PA now, won’t pay a dime. Bye bye Newsday. What a dumb move. They are not the WSJ.
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mt275 says:
Bye Bye Newsday, and Katie.
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Daniel says:
This will not last long. The Times tried this and it was a disaster. Either way I don’t care. Since the site changed it sucks and I only go to Newsday for their Islander coverage and that is only AFTER I come here first.
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Alex says:
nope.. not paying it!
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John says:
Bye Newsday. Not a chance I’m paying that. Too bad Verizon Fios doesn’t have the same offer (I’m not switching because of this).
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I have Cablevision here in Jersey, but if I didn’t I wouldn’t even consider paying that amount. Plus the website is a pain to use and the Islanders coverage has been subpar (although Hermann had a nice article today).
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Steve says:
Bye bye newsday. But as they’re owned by the Rangers they may not speak the truth on the Islanders anyway.
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Mike A. says:
Doesn’t Cablevision make enough money already?? Newsday is like the minor leagues of news and hardly worth paying for….
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bob l says:
i already signed up (optimum freebie)
had NO CLUE they want $250/year…but why goodbye katie? just get twitter, etc…
unless of course they ban her from her twitter usage…
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rb says:
I don’t really care what Newsday does in terms of charging for content. That’s certainly their right, and there is NO WAY I’m going to subscribe just to read Islanders content and the stray LH article.
More important is what the Isles plan to do in response. The only newspaper that covers the team as regular beat is no about to head off into reader oblivion. Do the Isles now recognize how crucial an independent Web voice like P is? Will they now step up and ensure its long-term survival? Will they realize that AOL’s Fanhouse saved their bacon short term by rescuing PB for at least this year? Wouldn’t it make sense now to pay PB to ADD even MORE content?
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valentino says:
250.00???
I get newsday for free and I can barely stand this paper. The only reason why I even read it is for the NYI coverage, which to be quite honest stinks this year. I want logan back.
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James says:
While I agree that the current model (free news online) is killing the newspaper industry, charging a $20 monthly fee isn’t going to work, either.
This is an all-in or all-out proposal. In other words, if Newsday charges, all the newspapers have to charge, or Newsday is finished.
To that end though, assuming eventually everyone charges, then what: am I going to pay $20/month x “X” number of news websites? Zero chance.
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Fist of Gillies says:
So they are attempting a strategy THE NEW YORK TIMES tried and failed?
But it will work for them because they are far smaller and have a much more narrow scope of content?
So, essentially, Newsday’s new media strategy is to effectively not particpate.
Good luck with that.
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RC says:
Read Newsday online every day. Once this happens, there is no way in H-E-double hockey sticks I will ever visit that site again. Oh well.
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Josh says:
No way this will work. No way would I buy this.
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mtrico says:
Maybe if it wasn’t such a crappy paper they could get people to pay for a subscription, but no way anyone would pay $250 a year. My advice to them would be to keep the site free and charge a fee of about $40 a year for extra content, such as blogs, etc. The pittsburgh Post Gazette does something like that. I don’t know how successful it’s been, but it seems like a better business model.
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Sean says:
Good-bye to the biggest liberal rag on God’s green earth. They should pay us as we stomp through to find what few items are of interest.
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Forgot to add one more thing above. If I have to pay $20 per month to read NYI coverage, I’d rather pay the $20 to CB and PB. Anybody else with me?
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Gary says:
5th grade liberal rag makes another great decision
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billy says:
i live in winnipeg and am not paying for a new york newspaper.
If i’m unable to go to her links through twitter than i hope to god you keep this going CB.
i have center ice this year so it doesnt really matter, i can see first hand how they are performing.
But with such little coverage, it just seems like they’re trying to kill the islanders. With such poor attendance, u’d figure the team would be doing all they can to make the isles a daily relevance.
but $250 a year for a newspaper when u can get most of this info elsewhere for free is hilarious. That price wont last very long.
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trippstar says:
I give them 6 months, heard the hard copy edition is going up to $1 a day. What a rag that paper is, and the new website is a joke. they don’t monitor the comments that people leave, which happen to be very racist and ignorant for all to see. Dolan knows how to ruin a bad thing already.
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Mike says:
My reaction? TGFPB (Thankd G-d for Point Blank). No need for Newsday with this blog providing excellent Islanders coverage…
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Lenny says:
The newsday website is awful, I don’t like going to it for free! But living outside on NY it’s my best option for LI news.. What a terrible move on their part.
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JKP in Halifax says:
Genie’s out of the bottle. Newspapers are as screwed as the music industry. They should follow the example: micro payments.
Let me set up an account and charge me $0.25 or $0.50 for each article I’m interested in. And if you’re charging me, there better not be any annoying ads.
Finally, as others have noted, the web created a culture about free information (wikipedia being the best example). There are too many choices and too many sources for information. Newspapers are dead, they just don’t know it. Their model worked only because the held areas geographically captive.
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Chris16 says:
I have Cablevision so I won’t have to pay. That being said, they manage to take a poorly designed web site and some how made it worse! There is no way I would pay for Newsday.com. I think that the Isles coverage has been worse since Logan was moved off the beat. This model of paying for content does not work.
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j says:
not a chance ill pay for it. id bet its free again in less then a year. theyll need the visitors to monitize their website.
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Hockey1919 says:
Agree with the New York Times comparison. With this new business model they can expect zero advertising dollars since they will have a circulation of zero.
If it were $250 a year for a site that provided news from multiple sources there may be a way to justify it but I read Newsday for Islander coverage and nothing else. The new web layout is so terrible it is almost unreadable anyway.
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Peter says:
I was not surprised about the idea, but I was thinking $20/year or so. The $5/week really threw me for a loop – it’s an insane price. I live out of town, so it’s not even an option at that price point.
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Harold C says:
I think it’s their death knell. It’s for this precise reason that I flat out refuse to be a Cablevision subscriber any longer. I cannot and will not put another dime into the pocket of James Dolan. I’ve learned to live with watching the Isles in regular def on FiOS and will never go back.
Then again, my old Optonline e-mail still allows me access to the site since they never shut it off, so I won’t have to pay anyway.
Neil Best is kidding me. What, do you think he’s gonna say “This is a bad idea” and bite the hand of the emperor Dolan? Believe me, he knows this is a bad idea. It will fail, of that there is no doubt.
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I live in Boston and there is no chance I will pay $250 for the Newsday site. I’ll have to check and see if my old optonline email address will get me through. Looks like one of my last standing bridges to my Long Island roots will be burned. I’ll just have to get my news from friends now.
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thepolishprince says:
Meh. I subscribe to optonline so no additional cost to me. I wouldn’t pay $250 as I think their Isles coverage is iffy at best. Unfortunately its the only coverage out there (newspaper wise).
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Section 320 rocks says:
I think that sucks!! But I subscribe to newsday the paper so I won’t have to pay. I think it is BS to make the people pay though!
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JT says:
The new site is awful to begin with. Now, they want to charge $2350/year for access? Ridiculous. So much for Newsday and Katie. Thank God IPB is still around. Chris, we owe you big time.
JT
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Danbury Islanders Fan says:
Well I guess I am not reading Newday anymore. Thankfully I still have this site for my Islanders news.
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Andre says:
No way would I even consider paying a penny for that. Newsday is a joke. It is amazing how stupid people can be in the business world. It will never last.
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murph says:
no. frickin. way. their web re-design was awful to begin with and this will be the nail in the coffin. this experiment won’t last more than a couple of months.
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Dan from NJ says:
Well CB at least your site will increase its viewership because of this nonsense. Being from NJ I do not get Newsday and I use Verizon cable cause Optimum sucks. Oh well, I’ll just check your site, besides its the best coverage for Islanders fans anyways….
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sneekypete says:
Haha what a joke. If the goal of Newsday is to file for Bankruptcy in the next 2 years then they just got on the fast track.
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Doug says:
Newspapers are a lost art. So is Newsday’s website. The site is awful as it is, and they expect people to pay $250 a year???
The only Isles news worth that kind of money is Point Blank.
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Gabe says:
What a joke!! Newsday is a sinking ship.
However, if each PB reader contibuted a dime, we can get one subscription and post contect to this website. I’d pay a dime for Katie’s coverage. A quarter might be a bit excessive though.
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No offense to Katie Strang but her one true advantage over everyone else is her access.
Like this one right here, there are many great Islander blogs/bloggers who are just as insightful, entertaining, and in some case more knowledgeable.
I subscribe so I don’t care but they are not the be all, end all.
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Isles78 says:
As a Canadian Isles fan I have always checked out the Newsday Isles content but to be perfectly honest I’ve felt the coverage and quality have slipped. The one bright spot was the blog, which provide quick updates on interesting situations from time to time but even that info is relayed to other websites in a matter of minutes. No real loss here, just another example of a company trying to use old school business methods in a new age market.
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UIF says:
Others have pretty much said it all wrt this specific proposal. It’s unfortunate that news outlets are struggling so much to find a successful model in an age where people are consuming more news from more sources than ever. I hope they find answers soon, because local newspapers all over the state and country are going down, and that’s not a good thing. Who will hold local politicians accountable or cover local events, the AP?
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nhlfan says:
$250 for newsday….who priced that….the yankees? I have optonline so I will not have to pay, but there is no way I would pay. As people have said above, they took a bad website and made it worse.
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JD (e_godard) says:
Regardless of the fact that ill be getting it for free (since I subscribe to Optimum) I will never waste a minute of my time on that website again if I have to login.
Thank god this site got funding. Goodbye Katie, I hardly knew yah.
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orngfan says:
all i’ve got to say is this, i’ve been waiting for a reason to stop reading newsday online due to their ATROCIOUS journalists, jim baumbach in particular! and now i have it! i wont even have the temptation anymore to look at their website, which is even better. if you ask me newsday is doing us a favor! i’m sure ppl will copy and paste the articles onto islander msg boards anyway, no worries here! good riddence! one more company purchased by dolan on its way to FAILURE! love it.
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hockeytime says:
This is crazy, Newsday is a joke. I don’t read it anymore because of your site CB! This is the best Isles site ever.
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Bobnystrom711OT says:
Sure, like I’m going to fork over ANY type of $ to a paper that’s run by the Rags…
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Alex says:
Terrible move given that they are Newsday, not the NY Times. 99% of readers who have been “freeloading” will not pay a dime for this service. Maybe if they stepped up their quality of sports reporting ten-fold people would begin paying. The NYPost.com will now have plenty more hits on their sports section thanks to Newsday. There’s a reason print journalism is struggling, and that is because people do not want to pay for what they can get for free. Even with Newsday charging, there are so many websites from which people can get better coverage at zero cost. Very silly move, which they may realize a month into this venture, when their hit numbers plummet, as their readership is composed of such a small percentage of the country compared to the Times and the WSJ, which are read on a global scale.
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Darryl Mentro Sr. says:
How else are they going to pay for that inflated Rangers payroll? It’s time for Long Island to get a real Long Island newspaper and for the Islanders to get their own TV network.
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On Edge says:
I will never pay it. What a dumb move.
I hate Newsday and I’m a liberal. There are rag newspapers and it does not have anything to do with being liberal or conservative. I don’t call the NY Post a “conservative” rag because I wouldn’t want to offend any conservative by implying it is an outlet for all conservatives. It’s would have to improve to be a rag. A rag is a rag and Newsday is a rag.
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Hate to make a 2nd comment on this but the truth is CB provides 100% better Isles coverage then any newspaper. Just the mere idea of asking the players the other day about Gordon’s coaching was probably a better reporting angle then I’ve seen out of Newsday in years. Botta’s idea’s aren’t earth shattering but they give Isles fans what the want a glimpse into the heart of the organization(GM, Coaches, Players, and Ownership issues).
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upstatenyifan says:
I only read it for the Islander news, and I can get that for free from like a zillion other sources. I’ll keep my $250 and put it to use somewhere else.
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big dog says:
I went there a few times but i go here for my isles news and no where else.
This is a dumb move.
Bye Bye Newsday
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Will C. says:
I love NEWSDAY, and I do not live in NY. Any NY’rs I meet across my travels I have sent to the site. It is sad. I loved the paper b/c they are the only ones who covered the Isles for real as opposed to smacking their name on a AP story. I WILL NOT PAY, that is crap.
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Hud says:
Not paying, that’s how I get my LI information here in San Diego, but, I’ll find it elsewhere.
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Frank nyc says:
Does this include katie strang’s blog?
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NYICHAMP39 says:
My reaction?? They can keep their inept 5th-grade reading level news material. I grew up a long time ago. I get my news from real newspapers now.
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Anthony O. says:
Don’t they realize there are at least ten other NHL-related websites that provide quicker, more detailed information than that shoddy site? I rarely go to Newsday as it is, as I am always finding myself on this site and Puck Daddy. I could care less now about Newsday and their horribly organized site.
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Michael Nagin says:
Newsday is going to find out that this is a one big mistake. It will be a flop when this goes live. First of all, the website is a joke after they made changes to it. It used to be fairly easy to use and look up information. Not any more. I know I will not be subscribing to it on line. I will need to pick up a real copy the day after Islander games.
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Jeff D says:
No way I can afford to pay 250/yr as a college student and there coverage is average at best for our team…Thanks IPB for now being my only Islanders coverage site
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TuxTax says:
One heck of a thinktank in Dolan country! Is anyone in charge? Crappy Islander broadcast’s, lack of coverage, now people have to pay to go to a bad website. (No offence to Katie, I actually enjoy her coverage, but wish the editors gave her a little more freedom in her printed work.)
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miked says:
I’m not eligible for the free viewing since I do not have Optimum Online, nor am I living in NY at the moment. I don’t believe the Islanders information Newsday provides is exclusive enough to pay for. I’ll still follow Katie on twitter, and I’ll get the rest of my fix from islandermania and this blog.
However, I can’t help but think that the smaller audience will ultimately result in less coverage of the Islanders. This sounds like it could be bad for the team and/or LH project.
Winning, of course, fixes much of this.
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Greg says:
I am a transplanted Long Islander living in Philadelphia for the last four years and although I use various blogs to keep updated on my teams, I also used Newsday to keep up with sports, but also to keep up on Long Island news. I think it’s a joke, and they have lost me as reader of their website.
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Willis says:
We can get all sorts of hockey news from so many sites, who needs Newsday? That’s all I went to it for anyway. And since the change to the new format it has gone wayyyy down hill. Takes forever to load and then the dang article has just 3 sentences. AND 3 spelling errors! Irks the crap out of me.
I feel bad for Katie but hopefully this was just a tempoary stepping stone for her anyway. (RUN, Katie!)
And I wonder if they’ll change their mind in the not too distant future.
Good bye Newsday!
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No thanks says:
Um, no. Goodbye, Newsday.
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beatlebailey says:
CB this means that you are my only independent source for Islanders coverage since I am not paying for college newspaper sports coverage. Poor Greg Logan they have him doing everything but curling…
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Jamerson says:
I grew up on Long Island but I live in Cleveland now. If they charged $20 for a full year, I would consider it solely for Katie’s coverage. $20 a month is literally unbelievable. I predict that they will regret this.
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tom r says:
i won’t pay $5 a week for Newsday, but I’d do it for this IPB. between newyorkislanders.com and here, what else would an out of the area Islander fan need? Hermann and Katie do a real nice job, but not a whole lot more than is covered here.
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Rob says:
I moved away from Long Island years ago and mostly go to Newsday.com for Islanders coverage. Their site is not very good by any standard. I would not pay for content from it. Maybe Katie will mirror her articles (or at least blog posts) on her facebook page.
I suspect they will lose a lot of online readers. I understand that ad revenues have been declining for many sites for years but I wonder what will happen to ad revenues when the readership declines further. This move might cost them more than it makes.
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JimmyMac77 says:
It’s alot of money for what they cover.
I pay $30.00 a month and with that I get NHL, NFL, MLB, OHL, NBA, College FB and Basetball, plus throw in Nascar…lol.
Now that’s a deal.
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mmm22 says:
I can understand why they would do this, but they should have thought about charging a nominal fee while the paper was still decent not an astronomical one after the paper has been gutted.
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Isles fan Ken says:
I read Newsday because I’m old fashioned and like actually holding and reading a newspaper. As far as online, I rarely go to Newsday now, and with a $250 fee, forget it.
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Enzo says:
Cablevision overpaid for Newsday and they are desperate for some kind of return. What’s funny is that they “upgraded” the online version and it’s just so much worse than before. Who would pay for this?
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jonnyboston says:
Anyone know if this means Katie’s tweets will be shut down? Or worse, just links to a ‘please subscribe to Newsday’ page?
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duff says:
bad move. $250 is too much for us who just read the sports section.
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IslesinOside says:
More incompitent business people. Perhaps before they decide to charge more for their content they should present a worthy product.
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Gutty34 says:
Worst newspaper period. The new format is horrible and the articles are booooorrriiinnnnggg. I used to be an avid obessive newsday reader. I switched to the Post about a year and half ago and although not the best news coverage who cares. I want to be entertained on the train. I hear enough BS on the news and radio. This is a bad move by Newsday. I assume they receive/charge higher rates to advertisers based on hits. I bet they see over a 50% decline once this flips to a pay site. Well – like everything else Dolan touches—it turns to sh-t. The Cable system sucks. Verizon kicks its ass. Newsday sucks. MSG has been a mess for years (Knicks and Rags). I just dont understand how this company makes money?? They basically came to my house banged on my door for 10 minutes until I answered and tried to bully me to switch back. Offered me free everything incluidng paying my term fee.
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Paul says:
No chance newsday.
As a transplanted LI’er who enjoys Newsday, 250 ain’t coming out my pocket. -
teddy says:
#62 I don’t think newsday really was concerned about other hockey news outlets..
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Don't Mind The Haters says:
I’m an out of towner and only go on to the Newsday website to read Islander related content. No way would I subscribe for that amount of $$.
For Islanders Point Blank however…
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I also have to agree. The redo may have been the worst redesign in the history of websites. The old one was fine. The new one freezes, aborts scripts etc….anyone who pays $20/mo is crazy. Go subscribe to a you know what site for that kind of dough
At least you get a return on investment. -
dan from va beach says:
i’ve been an out of towner since i moved off the island in 90′ to go away to college. i’ve checked in less and less over the years with newsday and have been way less than satisfied with anything there for awhile. imho, the isles beat has blown more and more with each new writer since hahn!!!!! looks like it’ll just be ipb and other national and local ebsites from now on…….see ya newsday, won’t miss ya at all!
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Schultz39 says:
Buh-bye. The beauty of PointBlank! I don’t need to go to Newsday anymore!
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Mikeo says:
It will fail
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David says:
I live in Salt Lake City Utah. This is not going to work. I go the website every day. I guess pointblank is it for me. This is not good.
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Brooks Simpson says:
The idea is fine. The execution? Awful. $250 a year isn’t going to cut it, especially when one’s a selective reader. Had they gone with a better price point, people might have signed up.
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jt says:
I have opt online, but would never pay for newsday if I did not.
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CMB says:
Katie Strang’s tweets will remain free. I’ll read those.
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StevieL says:
Uh-NO! Where will I get my in depth hometown IslanderHockey coverage from now? And how can I replace the minute to minute in depth reporting and unbiased coverage they have given Long Islands most needed development project?? The Lighthouse! I guess Chris you will have to expand to cover things like Kate Murray buying goats to clear public land and marrying people on Fire Truck aerial ladders! Can the Dolans get more arrogant! Newsday was once great, it is now nothing but fluff!!
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Nickyco says:
Too bad. I understand that print media must find ways to increase revenue, but it’s not going to be profitable or popular at this cost. For what I read on Newsday’s site, it’s not worth my $250 investment.
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Isles Fanatic says:
Just re-itterating what most have stated…I can’s see myself paying such a fee. Being from Canada, Point Blank and a few others like DB Gallof, are going to become my only source of Islanders info. CB…please keep it going!!
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Steve says:
As a resident of NYC and Time Warner. Good Bye Newsday.
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Bart says:
That’s a shame. I live in VA and there is no way I’m paying that kind of money to read articles on the Isles/Mets/Jets.
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Hockey83 says:
This sounds more like a power move by Cablevision to bolster than ISP strength. I doubt they expect to make much money on people actually buying subscriptions, and rather expect people to consider it a bonus for signing up for internet service. It’s in similar fashion to how Cablevision doesn’t let anyone other than cable providers show MSGHD or MSG+HD.
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Blizzard says: I avoid Newday web site mostly. Certainly am not going to pay for that crap
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Stephen P says:
I guess I will never read Newsday ever again then. I can get the entire center ice package for $140 a year. I don’t need their coverage. What a joke. They don’t cover the Isles enough for that.
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Spartiarti-RVC says:
i think that is obnoxious and pointless. ONly good thing is im a opt online subscriber so i dont care. but if i wasnt, no way i would pay for it.
Its the same reason why they doing give Verizon Fios access to HD, its a way to horde customers to being cable, phone customers of cablevision
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George. Dyker Heights.Brooklyn says:
Newsday is out of their minds. Hopefully Point Blank will be around for a while. Sorry Katie ,some of your coverage is 2 lines long, I won’t lose sleep over it.
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Metalcoconut says:
Wow, and it isn’t even April 1st yet? This could have been a really good joke reserved for April 1st. I guess I can equate this to what would happen if Robert Nilson decided to hold out on the Islanders. Good luck -cablevision- I mean Newsday.
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Original Rob says:
My reaction:
HAHAHAHA
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Obs says:
Sad really. I just started to check out the site after you were plugging Katie Strang. I like her work. I’m still following her Tweets so that’s all I need. I told you I’d pay for your coverage. Newsday? Never!!! SEE YA!!
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Paul in ABQ says:
I’d pay for Isles PB, but not Newsday. Goodbye Newsday…
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dalcy says:
well i’m glad there “watchdog” justified it. what a shill.
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Never going to work and the users they have they will loose. The newspaper really is not that good and if it wasn’t for the Islanders I would never log in.
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Is Mike Milbury their business manager?
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Strummer's Army says:
As a Florida native and resident, I will NOT be purchasing Newsday’s content. They do not provide content worth purchasing. I may be tempted if Logan was writing still but no way and never for that price.
It’s going to be double dose of bad new for Newsday because not only will they not get my money but now they won’t be getting my clicks and page views and that will hurt them when they are trying to get advertisers. It’s a STUPID move. They need to improve content and focus on improving the amount of visitors to the site (I click on it MANY times per day) to get the adversting dollars which has always funded the publishing business. Now they will be in worse position to do so.
NY Times has already approaced the Obama administration about a government bailout and I am sure Newsday is not far behind. My take on it is if they cannot survive in the modern world and are getting their butt’s kicked by some dude in his bathroom in his LI dining room then they deserve to go out of business.
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Jimmy says:
AHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Pause catch breatheAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH
K all done
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Already deleted Newsday Islander coverage from my web browser favorites. Now it is very clear why the Islanders have decided Newsday is there official news provider since it is all part of supporting Cablevision. Is this tied into the Isles no longer sponsoring a competing web site?
These experiments to charge for web access will continue, but I believe that the last respectable news site to charge will eventually win out. When only one newspaper remains they will have a monopoly and there will be no choice left but to pay. Until then the weak will charge and fade into irrelevance.
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VA Isles says:
Well there goes Katie Strang’s blossoming career, cutting her readership by like 70%. Newsday gives me NOTHING that IPB doesnt. Its among the best publications out there, and Dolan and his cronies can stuff it. What, 200 bucks a month for cable isnt enough for Gaboriks salary? Dopes.
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DavidNYC says:
I will simply adjust and get my news elsewhere. I understand why they are trying this but I think their site is mediocre at best. They do not package and deliver their content in a very compelling or intuitive manner in my opinion (PC and mobile). Their redesign has been a step backwards for me. The content is just fine but if I am going to pay, I expect better on all fronts. If the Isles continue to favor Newsday for breaking news, I will slowly lose interest in this rebuilding season. Last season PointBlank kept me engaged everyday and made the Isles relevant even when they were not very good on the ice. I will continue to rely on PointBlank and IslanderMania for my Isles fix. I am not offended by Newsday’s decision, I find myself not apathetic and will just carry on.
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Crackhead Theo says:
i read newsday not only for Isles coverage, but also for LI coverage. I live in NYC so newsday.com is my LI news source. but I will certainly not pay $250 per year for it.
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Merrick says:
Whatever.
I guess since the newspaper industry as a whole is hemmhoraging red ink, despetate times call for desperate measures. Other papers have considered killing their dead tree versions a few days a week while continuing online every day. Perhaps this is part of their plan. Or perhaps they’ll tick off their paying subscribers by giving away free access every now and then or to specific content. Better still, if they pay writers by the amount of ads traffic they generate, perhaps we’ll get something more lively than what Caitlin has delivered.
I for one rarely buy a newspaper unless I’m on the train and read everything for free. Evidently, Newdsay hasn’t done a good job of generating online ad revenue.
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bcarey says:
I’ll be blunt, Newsday new Web site sucks. I don’t know if they have a crappy server or what, but it is glitchy and ugly. I would never pay for the right to read it.
Now if it were an essential part of my day, I’d consider it. But $250 is ABSOLUTELY OUTRAGEOUS. Good luck, Cablevision.
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VanVoorhees says:
Wow, at least I can get the denver post online for free. Love them Broncos…maybe the Isles will move to an area that has better press coverage and free to me…does Brooklyn have a good rag for this?
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Gary9-19-22 says:
I gave up on buying Newsday 5 years ago and stopped looking at Newsday.com a few years ago. They have turned a once top notch news organization into the Mickey Mouse Club.
The only reason I have bought that rag once in the last 5 years was because of my daughter getting into a Newsday pic for a high school event.
I won’t give the Dolan’s one pennie of my hard earned money.
TV/Phone/Internet=FIOS
News=FREE off the internet
I only go to Knick games or events at MSG with comp tickets. They already undermined West Side Stadium and pushed my Jets completely out of NY.SHOVE IT DOLAN!!!!
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Not surprised in the least. Thought most newspapers would have started doing this a while ago. Of course Newsday new look website sucks, so they have a lot of gall.
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Yippy Yappy Uwe says:
You couldn’t pay me $250 a year to try and navigate that awful website.
Katie Strang for all her access to the team is extremely unqualified to be the Islanders beat writer. Her writing consists of quoting players, colorless team updates, and lacks any insightful analysis. Oh, Scott Gordon roots for the power play in practice. Thanks Katie! The only reason I would pay $250/year to access newsday is if they hired Chris Botta. I do think their other writers (Hermann, etc.) provide good analysis of the team. In spite of his Duchene pick, I miss Greg Logan as the beat writer.
I live in Baltimore now, and if it wasn’t for the fact that my mom still lives on the Island and gets newsday, I’d never check the newsday website again.
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Jake says:
I live in Tampa my mom is a newsday and optimum customer. She never goes online. I sigend up today an gave 3 of my out of stater buddies the log in. I’m sure i am the only one that will be doing this.
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rochfire says:
Used to rely on it to get info on LI/NYC but forget it. Other ways to go.
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Donald says:
Here is a perfect example of how these mega corporations have too much of a monopoly on what we have access too.
Dolan’s own cablevision and newpaper. Cablevision users get freebie, but what about other ISP’s like Fios or Time Warner?
Ontop of that, Dolan’s also own MSG and Rnagers, who get better coverage even though Islanders are a Long Island team and barely covered by this Long Island rag.
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This is terrible. I live in Canada and use this site and Newsday to keep up on things. Will the Katie Strang Twitter be included in this???
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Captain Crunch says:
Bite me, Newsday.
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Chris says:
I live in DC now, and no way will I pay for Newsday online. Not one cent. The Islanders coverage is terrible to begin with, and now they’re expecting people to actually pay to have access to it? Newsday has done a terrible job for years covering the Islanders, and no offense to Katie (and Chris, you’ve been very nice in your support of her), but the kid has got to get in the weeds a bit and move past the no-brainer stories. Goodbye (good riddance?) to Newsday.
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Al L says:
I have two words that define my decision. GOODBYE NEWSDAY!!!! It was nice for a former New Yorker to be made to feel at home having access to that daily. Its too bad I am not welcome any longer. I am sure I can live without ya!!
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The New Isles GM says:
I think it’s wise to go green. Who doesn’t own a computer now a days. They should just go completely online and save paper. News could be released faster and up to the moment. They should encourage their readers and subscribers to always check online. Especially now with the iPhones. You can get Newsday on your phone. How much more convenient could it get?
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hale says:
Buh BYE!!!
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Jeff Kuntz says:
Step 1: Start charging $250/year for Newsday.com, so that you “establish” that Newsday’s online version is worth something of value.
Step 2: Kill your print edition and go online-only.
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Staten Islander says:
priceless, and by that i mean, there is no price that i would pay to look at that rags site.
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Greg says:
Hope they are prepared to go out of business. I will never pay for online newspapers — what a joke.
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Chris TMC says:
LMAO. 70% of the time I read NEwsday articles Im seeing errors, omissions, bias, and they expect people to PAY to see that? You would think that if they wanted to charge people they might have actually INcreased the quality of their site and their writing? The site is awkward and outdated, the writing is lame, this is not going to work.
That being said, I actually believe that the future will move in the paid direction. But it isnt here yet, and what NEwsday is offering online is simply NOT worth paying for.
This is a golden opportunity for the Post, Daily News, and NYTimes to step up their coverage of things on LI, the Islanders being one of them. They may be able to take the whole market.
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Just to clarify, when I said Newsday has done a terrible job for years covering the Isles, that was a criticism meant for the editors and management, since so little space has been dedicated to insightful stories of the Isles.
I liked Logan’s articles, and enjoy reading Herrman’s contributions.
I still think Katie Strang is in over her head and needs a lot of work. -
Zeike says:
Two things. First, if the other NY papers don’t follow suit then Newsday will abandon this campaign. Two, I live outside NY so I will not be paying or utilizing the Newsday site anymore, which I visit multiple times daily. Too bad.
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Joe says:
That sucks! They’re as good as gone lol
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The site now is worst than it was before they changed it. Look at alexa.com and see how the site traffic is down since the site has been redesigned. The site needed a redesign, but it was done horribly.
Would never pay for that site. -
Yeaaah – another transplant here who used newsday.com to keep up with local news – I’m not shocked, and I somewhat/slightly understand – but trust me, no tears (as well as no $$$) will be shed by me . . . . What a shame/joke.
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mm30 (47) Youre right that as of right now Katie has the advantage over everyone else because of her access. But if Islanders fans are no longer reading NEwsday articles, why would the organization continue to give exclusives to a paper that the fans dont read? The Isles arent the ones owned by NEwsday, the Isles are free to give their exclusives to whoever they want. Thats why Im saying this could be a golden opportunity for one of the other papers to step up and take the LI market.
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dose says:
ha!
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the1gwiz says:
I wonder if they’ll hit even double digits for subscribers?
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bf51 says:
Is there a single person out there who would pay for this? I say no way.
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Phil says:
Not a chance.
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L says:
I’ve spent a lot of time living away from LI over the years and always checked back with Newsday for sports updates and home town news…. about to move again but not prepared to pay $250. Are they kidding? I’ll just get my sports from Point Blank and TSN. Sorry, Mr. Dolan.
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steve k says:
since they changed the design of their website i have not been there as often as i had gone in the past. now that they will charge for online content i will never go on it!
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LouD says:
Lets see, the only reason I used to go to the Newsday website was to read about the Islanders but ever since Katie took over the coverage is abysmal, so who cares? Their paper sucks and I can’t believe how many people already pay for it. But let me get this straight. We’re in a recession with thousands of people out of work and they make the decision that this would be a good time to make people pay to read their paper? No thanks, I’ll just go to one of the millions of other newspapers or websites on the net that don’t make you pay. Before this comes into effect I’m going to look up who they sell advertisements too and make sure I don’t buy any of their products. BOYCOTT ALL PRODUCTS ADVERTISED BY NEWSDAY.
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Pjhil C says:
Even as a newsday subscriber. . .that will be the LAST time i visit their site. period. the economic model doesn;t work for you – get out of the business.
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Kaszycki's Krew says:
Not going to happen – the website they have is very clunky anyway – and they can go full tilt Ranger centric now like they want to.
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Brian G says:
I agree with #138 – the new design of their website is horrible….thank god I have cablevision…I would not pay. So far Logan had better stories than katie…they need to use him more for Islanders coverage.
If anything they should charge $10 for the year or 1 dollar a month..just to track it for the first year
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Bob Bassen says:
ROTFLMFAO! I stopped going to that site a while ago anyway..(Sorry, Katie, etc.)
Well, CB, looks like you can have Islander Nation under the PB site for years to come now!
GO Isles! -
D-man says:
i stopped reading newsday when point blank came along
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misterpink says:
AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHA
Not only is the new website the ugliest, most un-userfrienly, slowest loading piece of garbage in the entire media industry, (I mean how 1998 can you get?) – NOW YOU HAVE … AHAHHAHHAHAHHA .. YOU HAVE .. AHAHAHAHHAHAHA .. To PAY!!! AHAHAHAHHHHHHAHAHAHAA.
Priceless. As in there is no price low enough to put on such a garbage product.
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fred says:
Would not pay a dime for the Newsday website. Their new layout is very user-unfriendly. Thank goodness for PB!
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Ryan says:
This sucks, I have opt online at home, but i’m at school so there goes Newsday coverage
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Iron Islander77 says:
I expect this site to get alot more visits. Greeed will kill the newsday. Anyone who pays 250 to these people should contact me. I will cut and paste any article for 50 a year….
The internet was made to be free.
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Jethro09 says:
Looks like I won’t be viewing Newsday online anymore…
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Rick says:
It’s not about greed, it’s the way things are going to be. Newspapers take a bath already, so this was a natural progression. Why are they going to give away their content for free? Would you? Didn’t think so. That being said, if I was not either a Newsday subscriber (which I’m not) or an Optimum Online customer (which I am), I’d laugh hysterically at their price tag & go get my news elsewhere.
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CM says:
At least we have IPB and Fanhouse.
This means Wang does not have to worry about discussing the LH in the media(mostly Newsday), b/c nobody will end up reading it anyways. Subscriptions will not cover the $$’s lost from advertizing. Not sure of thier strategy. -
FourCupsin4yearsnot60 says:
Gosh, I hate the Dolans.
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$250. Did they think they needed to make it that much to keep the riff raff out. I’d have said adios for a nickel.
Adios Newsday!
The only real reason I ever logged on to Newsday.com was to read about the Mets, Islanders(rarely since NYIPB) and to see if I knew anybody on the DUI list.
…and the Islander coverage hasn’t been that great since Alan Hahn was reassigned. -
Peter says:
I’ll give this 3 months at most, probably only one month. Most corporations have NO idea how to utilize the internet.
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Jester69 says:
$aw thi$ coming a mile away once Cablevi$ion took it over.
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John says:
Guess I won’t be visiting Newsday anymore. The only reason I went there was for Isles news. I have no other reason to visit their site otherwise. My $20 month (probably more because I’m in Canada… though the dollar is approaching par) is better off in my pocket in this economy.
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Bri on LI says:
When they first changed the website they asked me to fill out a survey giving feedback as to their new structure. I explained that it was poorly designed, difficult to read, difficult to navigate, it did not properly load, and finally occasionally causes Safari to crash. I received no response, they didn’t change the website one bit, and now they want to charge for it. Sigh.
Not that I have to worry, I’m an Optimum client. So they are expanding their market by charging people who live off Long Island to view their site? I can’t see Newsday lasting for too long.
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onesinceforty says:
So, I guess even less people will read Katie Strang. Pathetic!
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Marc Andrew Weakland says:
Just someone else who dosen’t want the Islanders to stay here. Great timing since most real Islander fans have so much extra money laying around. Kate Murray isn’t getting a cut of this is she?
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hmmm… how much does the Newsday charge for home delivery these days? Surely not $250….
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i respectfully say that katie strange is absolutely horrible as a beat writer for the isles, maybe she was/is good in other areas however i have NO idea how botta shamelessly plugs her?
maybe he’s trying to get a job there:)
i guess he doesn’t want to burn any bridges, BUT her coverage is NON-coverage, quick updates is not beat reporting with well written and researched writing, interviews, discussion etc…!!!!
what up with that???? just sayin’ as others have written! -
Dan says:
Since Newsday changed their website I find myself not going there as much. Site is hard to navigate and I think its horrible. Safe to say I won’t be paying since I don’t have Cablevision. I have no problem going else where for my news.
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Danielle says:
I like #29′s suggestion of micropayments. No sane person will pay a $250 per year subscription for a mediocre paper. However, if they have a micropayment system set up where users can pay $.75 or whatever the current price is for a physical copy and receive that day’s digital copy, there is a possibility it could be semi-successful.
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joey bagodonuts says:
this is cablevisions way of desperately trying to salvage any return of investment on the newsday acquisition. the wsj is $2 per week online, so i dont know how newsday came up with their outrageous price. newsday probably paid a consultant thousands of dollars to come up with that price. it will probably take them years to recoup that money alone.
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Phil from Switzerland says:
I’m a huge Islanders fan from Switzerland who stays up late to watch the games. And with no newspapers, i get my information from newsday.com and IPB.
I would have payed for Point Blank but not for Newsday! PB is a higher league…
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WM says:
I live in Baltimore – no way I’m ponying up the dough. Bye-Bye Newsday!
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geezette says:
Another person who only reads newsday for the Isles coverage. I might pay a dollar a week. but not five.
I can understand the money problems facing the print media, but no reason for overkill. -
Bill H says:
I understand why they are trying to move to a pay model – the print newspaper business is dying. Having said that $5 a week is way too much. That’s approximately what they charge for the printed newspaper and there is no where near the same overhead online. Not to mention the fact that they’ve cut writers and staff to such an extent over the past year that the paper is a shell of it’s former self in any event. Subscription is the key to being profitable online but $5 a week is way too much.
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Little Jimmy says:
Goodbye Newsday!!
I live in NYC and don’t pay for Newsday now and won’t pay then. I agree with the loyals I would have no problem paying for service to PB and the GREAT CB for ALL my Isles Info..
Go Islanders!!
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Eric says:
Not sure where they came up with that figure. Plenty of other places to get my fix, like here
I might be willing to pay for access to the sports section but not at $250. Might be willing to pay $35 – $50 for a year of sports(that’s roughly 10-15 cents a day) but nothing beyond that. -
James says:
That seems a bit ridiculous. I grew up in Long Island, loved (and still love) reading Newsday for Isles and Mets coverage – heck, I even had a paper route. There is no way, however, that I will pay $250 bucks to read their website from my home in Texas. Please. I understand that times are tough, newspaper and journal companies are folding, etc; that said, Newday would have to signficantly upgrade their current website and drastically increase their Isles content to get me to change my mind. Wonder how this will work out?
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Jim Clark says: As I posted on both Neil Best and Ken Davidoff’s blogs, when “Newsdolan” starts chargin’, I’m departin’ It ain’t an essential of life like beer is.
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Sayonara Newsday and Katie Strang. $250? What a joke. I would think twice about paying even $25 for Newsday, but will not even consider $250. I live in NYC and only read it for the Isles anyway.
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potvinrocks says:
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Newsday is no where close to be as informative as IPB
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Caesar says:
I live in Boston and won’t be paying for that. No way, no how.
Ihope the Islanders reconider using this as a prime source for their coverage. They are now alienating a large portion of their base. If I was them I’d start opening up other avenues of coverage or looking to support more independent sources.
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Tim F. says:
I was born and raised on Long Island, and live in Westchester now. Having access to Newsday online was a nice link to my roots, but I have noticed in the last year or so that both the scope and quality of Newsday’s coverage has declined. (As just one example, Katie Strang’s elementary game analysis has me longing for Greg Logan.) There is no way I will pay to read Newsday on the web. They offer very little content that can’t be obtained elsewhere. And Jeez, just last week they were scooped by the Long Island Press! (OK, a little sarcasm on my part).
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Matt NYC says:
What a horrible Newspaper, anyone that would pay $250 for an elementary news report is on crack.
Newsday will fail with this one
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craig says:
As a transplanted long islander in Colorado, this is my main source of information, mainly sports from NY. However the coverage and quality of the content provide has declined. This has lead me to seek out information in the form of podcasts, directly to team sites. While I will be sad to no longer have access, it will not be worth the price to subscribe.
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Judging by the lack of positive responses in the comments I would think that Newsday would be wise to abandon their coverage of the Islanders altogether which may have been their focus in the first place. Everyone knows that sports pages sell papers and that is why they are on the back page and usually displayed seomwhere on the front page. If it is your plan to charge for coverage that people can get for free elsewhere, moments after it is released, with sub par analysis (no offense to Katie as I know she is trying and must be frustrated but the Isles fans -for the most part- are pretty hockey savy and they know the sport pretty well) then you have to expect that you are going to lose a large part of your audience. Therefore I can not see the Newsday business managers expecting their product to be skyrocketing. Decreasing your audience is not a wise business decision. However, I can not see their logic and I do not understand their decision making process in this matter. Perhaps they feel that they really have a shot at something. From where I sit all I can see is them trying to hack and slash prices for their ad space because their viewership has decreased.
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John from ATL says:
Man that s#$&^%%&*(()
Well I wasn’t happy with the new site and Isles coverage anyway. Another good bye to LI.
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mab says:
Oh neeeeewsday of Long Island… We now must say goodbyyyyyyyyyyyye !
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Robin says:
hahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah
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Mike for Philly says:
My reaction…..”Beat it Newsday”. Your Islanders coverage has sucked for 20 years.
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Priest says:
I don’t have a problem with charging for web content, but that is WAY too much money. People are going to go elsewhere for same news. Any “exclusives” will be on message boards, blogs, or other websites in no time.
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jackb says:
Wonder what their advertisers will think when most of the readers are no longer logging on.
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MsC says:
Wow. I guess those of us who live outside New York will have to find another way to get our Islanders coverage. How absurd and utterly inconvenient.
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a REAL hockey fan says:
.. Wait a second – they are now charging for this shell of a news organization?
They are nothing more but PARTISON, AGENDA DRIVEN IDEOLOGS. They are not hournalists or reporters anymore, they are nothing more but cheerleaders for their own “cause or agenda” and they do this with their slanted politics as well
No thanks newsday and TRY reporting and journalism sometime instead of holding pom-poms for liberal causes!
next!!!!!!!!
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Rich says:
I am an optonline subscriber. However on principle I will no longer use Newsday. When ESPN began charging for “special content” I stopped using them. The web has tons of free content – all of which paid for by the ads – you can always find the story somewhere else. Newsday is a shadow of its former self. Now they have put the nails in their own coffin. Good riddance.
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Isles fan in CA says:
Living in California now and will definitely NOT pay for snoozeday!
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Claude Funston says:
It’s a lousy paper for the most part.
No way I’d pay even a penny for their online edition.
The person who had this grand idea ought to be canned immediately.
That rag isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on.
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MHOUS says:
Live in NH and check it daily but no way i pay. No more newsday for me.
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mickeyboy7 says:
I HAPPILY canceled Cablevision when they screwed around with my Yankees coverage and signed up with DirecTV. I said the hell with the Knicks when Cablevision made a joke out of the franchise and now find the Nets more enjoyable. Now Newsday owns the Rangers and has made my Islanders almost irrelevant by the coverage they afford them. I hate the greedy Dolans.
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miket says:
Yeah ill keep the 35 meg upload and download speed i have with FIOS and continue to read point blank. Also why does newsday feel the need to remind us everysingle time that they are owned by cablevision, which owns the Ranjerks and Knicks.
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Bill O says:
As a ex-long Islander. It really does not matter. Newsday coverage of the NYI is a disgrace! I would rather pay a subscription fee to NYI PB.
Heck, last year I was paying a subsciption fee to NYI magazine before they cancelled it.
In this economic enviroment, this decision by Newsday is a long term death wish.
Maybe, Newsday will fold by the time the Islanders move to Queens, Brooklyn or Suffolk?
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CJ says:
Jeff (206)… hahahahahahaha
Can’t disagree. Won’t see my money from here in Jersey.
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Islebethere4u says:
Sorry CB, but it’s just another slap at the fans and the Lighthouse.
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OJK says:
Newsday is clueless. Oh no, you mean, I won’t be able to read where the top ten pizza places are …. :0 I mean give me a break, Newsday is so lame to think who they are
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raul17 says:
I live in Jersey, subscribe to fios and only residents from Queens and LI are allow mail subscriptions!! There wasn’t much to their coverage so I won’t miss it. Now if the Conn. Post decides….
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Hey Newsday, why don’t you take a clue from Google, and actually realize that if your website is good, you won’t have to charge
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Robbo M says:
a reader from Canada. you have got to be joking to think i’d pay that much! oh well, instead of reading Botta and Strang with my morning coffee each and every day, it looks as if I’m stuck with Botta (not the worst thing in the world, i guess).
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Oh no, I just realized, I also won’t be able to keep up with the latest suburbian DWI arrest or one sided political views.
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Sean says:
These print media outlets dying a slow death and thinking they’re going to make up for it by charging for their web site are only proving how utterly out of touch they are.
When there are (literally) thousands of other free sites who on earth is going to pay?
Especially for newsday since their site is AWFUL and got WORSE with their recent redesign.
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BringBackNyles says:
Dolan paid so much more then Newsday was worth, he actually announced this some time ago. His greed in trying to monoploize the media on LI caused him to buy this paper right as the print media market was collapsing. he will not get one cent of my money, and word to the wise, The Journal news laid off their entire sports staff and uses Newsday articles (they pay for them) so just go to their website, click on the team and it will be the same article except the by line will read ‘special to the Journal news” instead of “newsday”
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Ron says:
So, make your website unusable, and then charge your customers who are willing to put up with a horrendous format $250? No wondeNewsday is in trouble.
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Brother Rat says:
Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?!
Just heard this, and I can’t type right as I’m laughing too hard. My parents are subscribers to Newsday and Optimum Online, so I imagine I can finagle my way to gaining access to their stuff, but Newsday cannot couch this as anything more than a pathetic money grab. What a blow to LIers, and how sad that the one paper with a dedicated Isles beat writer will now charge for that coverage? Who in their right mind would pay nearly a dollar a day for their schlock?
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They don;t expect anyone to pay…what they want is to include it in the IO Optimum rewards ads ($250 value fee!) just like free movie nights at the most unlcean movie theaters (Clearview Cinemas)and MSG in HD
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Given the choice though if one were to pay, why would you settle for Strang when Point Blank is better? $250 bucks a year? That is like 69 cents per day. What is the point? Their online advertisers will object too considering they will get a lot less visitors and page views. Free is and will always be the best way. Great, free content with supportive, relevant advertisers is th ebuisness model. If you can’t hack it, then downsize and try again. They will lose by charging.
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Austin says:
I will not miss Newsday…will go somewhere else. Their Isles coverage is subpar anyway.
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mike in NJ says:
The Redone Newsday site Stinks anyway. PB and Fanhouse give better isles converage and the other NY papers or any other paper in the world as well as the BBC, Yahoo, Google etc. give really good news coverage. Really WHO Cares. Nice way to kill a newspaper!
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Gillies Goring says:
I’m going against the majority on this one to defend a newspaper’s right to charge for its services. News gathering and reporting are services that cost money. (When Point Blank was threatened, wasn’t it a matter of funding?) The news business model has changed in the digital era, and news orgs are trying to figure out how to make it work. If you don’t want to pay for a news service that you value, then that’s your prerogative. But we’ve become too accustomed to “free.” Access to news or reporting isn’t a right. You can’t walk into a restaurant and demand a comped meal just because you’re hungry.
Seriously? What a joke. I will just have to come here for all my Isles coverage. What a joke this country is. Corporations are out of control.