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The monthly charge for access to New York Times columnists may be ending soon, with flagging subscriptions for the TimesSelect service cited as a reason. There's no official word yet, and the report comes from the New York Post, so fans of the Times' columnists may want to hold off on the celebrations. If it plays out as reported, the Times will end its for-pay experiment soon.

TimesSelect debuted in May 2005, with an annual price of $49.95. The Times also added a monthly payment option priced at $7.95.

Subscription numbers have been declining. The Post claimed TimesSelect had 224,000 subscribers in April, but only 221,000 in June.

The official word on the demise of TimesSelect hasn't come from the Times yet. A statement by a Times spokesperson in response to questions about the service only told the Post they were continuing to evaluate approaches for the paper's online efforts.