The Demise of The New York Times? The Saga Continues

I read yet another article on the New York Times plan to charge for content. This one appeared on VentureBeat.com with a very provocative title: "Will The New York Times meter kill traffic from social media?".  What interested me most was this comment:

The New York Times is the leading print newspaper website according to Experian Hitwise, and accounted for nearly 15% of visits to all newspaper sites for the week ending January 16, 2010. But visits have been declining — Experian Hitwise data showed a year over year market share decline of 20% compared to a category average decline of 12%.

Clearly, the NY Times is loosing market share in a category that is already challenged. The Editor & Publisher reported that the NY Times has lost it's on-line news position to the Tribune Newspapers and Fox Digital Network ("Upset in Top 10 New Web Sites as Tribune Newspapers Leapfrog 'N.Y. Times'"). Yes, for the NY Times this trend is disturbing, and it appears it will get worse. I don't think this new model is going to increase the relevance of their content but it will certainly decrease accessibility and therefore is likely to further erode their market share. Advertising revenues will likely take another big hit. This, my friends, is a problem.

My thoughts .. what do you think?

Rick