Starting this week, we're doing something new at CNBC's digital platforms: Laying the ground for charging for some types of content.
It's part of our improved CNBC Pro – a subscription service that lets folks watch the CNBC network over their computers, tablets or other digital device of their choosing. Now, along with some pretty nifty streaming and data services in that product, there will be some investment features and portfolio features tied to two of our premiere programs: Fast Money Half Time and Squawk Box.
That content will be marked with a special "Pro" badge. Eventually, after an introductory period, that will mean the content will only be available to Pro subscribers.
Some take umbrage at the idea of charging for content on the Internet, although in this day and age more and more sites are doing it.
In our case, we're only doing it a little bit. Our news and market coverage will still be freely available, as always. Indeed, out of all the content we produce each day, less than 2 percent will be reserved to this subscription service. The vast majority of our journalism remains free.
And frankly, for many of you, it's not content you'd be interested in. These will be stories and strategies for the highly engaged investor...hard-core CNBC faithful that know their yield curves from their TED spreads from their iron condors. Sure, we're a business. We'd love to see lots and lots of people sign up for this service. But the fact is, it's not for everyone. And we recognize that.
But we also recognize that this kind of content has a value beyond the typical news story or market write. And so we're making it part of a subscription service.
And now you know what those green "pro" badges mean.
