The New York Times loves its digital paywall and says that it is a success with consumers, and from the last statistics I saw, it is. However, its digital advertising business is not doing quite as well. Last quarter the business actually receded by 2%, which isn't much, but, considering other advertisers gained, is worrisome.

At the publisher's core News Media Group, advertising fell even further. Overall ad sales were down 6.1 percent. Times CEO Arthur Sulzberberger Jr. blamed "uneven U.S. economic environment and uncertain global conditions" for weak ad sales. The New York Times is expecting similar downward pressure in the second quarter.

People seem happy enough to pay for the paper. Circulation revenue was up 9.7 percent and it has near 500,000 subscribers to its digital service. The New York Times hopes to increase this by shrinking what it provides for free. In related news, the Time's About.com is also having trouble. Its revenue decreased a massive 23.1%.