The New York Times has stated they are considering a five dollar a month access fee to the New York Times site based off of surveys of print subscribers. As revenue on the web constantly fluctuates and the newspaper business continues to sink, making money is being stressed and adverts are simply not cutting it.
Currently, the New York Times site is free even though they do offer an Adobe Air application that you have to pay for. There is no word on how much revenue this drives in but the app is currently very obscure and is not heavily advertised.
One problem with charging readers is that the New York Times has been free for so long that reader backlash will be significant. Yes, the New York Times offers great reporting and is a major news source but you can get the same news a lot of ways. Sometimes the little guys are more accurate as well as faster than the big guys.
At the same time, employees need to be paid and money is needed for that. Five dollars a month is not horrible by any means and I would be willing to pay that price for the quality news NYT provides. Still, the internet is a finicky place and we all know that fascinatingly well. Any change is bad change and this will be more true than ever once you bring money into the equation.
Of course, ideas such as the Adobe Air app are quite interesting and could succeed. The price point needs to be lowered severely, 3.95 a week is a little ridiculous when I could simply go to the site and deal with a non-intuitive interface. But it shows that the New York Times is willing to adapt, albeit slowly and they are making strides to spice up their failing industry.
