Until now - most media has been advertising supported. What fees consumers paid were minimal. Most consumers got hooked on this model. It had its benefits, but media has long been partial to advertisers since they pay the bills. The current ad depression has forced media companies to re-examine this model. Many companies are looking at a fee-per-view or subscription model. This would be very good for media since it would give it more independence from the advertisers who have become much too powerful in dictating placement, and in some cases, even media content. But will consumers pay for content? This NYT story examines the push on the part of media organizations to erect pay-per-view fences for content.
New York Times - Over more than a decade, consumers became accustomed to the sweet, steady flow of free news, pictures, videos and music on the Internet. Paying was for suckers and old fogeys. Content, like wild horses, wanted to be free. Now, however, there are growing signs that this free ride is drawing to a close.Newspapers, including this one, are weighing whether to ask online readers to pay for at least some of what they offer, as a handful of papers, like The Wall Street Journal and The Financial Times, already do. Indeed, in the next several weeks, industry executives and analysts expect some publications to take the plunge
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/28/business/media/28paywall.html
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