"Nearly 55 million people (more than one in three active Internet users) visited newspaper Web sites in the second quarter of 2006, a 29.4 percent increase from the same period a year ago, according to a new custom report by Nielsen//NetRatings for the Newspaper Association of America"

Newspaper Association of America

Luckily, most have given up on charging subscription rates for current content, instead charging for archived content. My guess on why the numbers are up. I think alot of people see current news as a public service, they should not have to pay to access it. It should be supported by ad revenue. Want something from the past, okay, I'll pay a small amount. I think $3 is the magic number today. Many have tried $10, but that is the same as a music CD, why should I pay that much? It is even too much for an archived video clip. A bit more than a typical public transit fare seems fair.

I wish more archival content was available for sale at low cost. For video content, people are flocking to Youtube.com, for now...