How many people are willing to pay for online news? If Newsday is any indication, not that many. The New York Observer is reporting that 3 months after putting their content behind a paywall, only 35 people have signed up to pay $5 a week for access to the website.

Epic fail!

That astoundingly low figure was revealed in a newsroom-wide meeting last week by publisher Terry Jimenez when a reporter asked how many people had signed up for the site. Mr. Jimenez didn’t know the number off the top of his head, so he asked a deputy sitting near him. He replied 35.

Michael Amon, a social services reporter, asked for clarification.

“I heard you say 35 people,” he said, from Newsday’s auditorium in Melville. “Is that number correct?”

Mr. Jimenez nodded.

Source: The New York Observer

And if that is not enough bad news to give most journalist a headache, the paper had to dole out $4 million to redesign the website and set up the paywalls in the first place. By my calculations, as long as the 35 members live another 476 years and don’t cancel their subscription, Newsday will recoup that investment