At the Observer , initial excitement over the announcement that the AP would re-consider its pricing structure quickly turned to concern once the changes were rolled out. As Thames examined details of the two tiers, his enthusiasm waned. A full subscription gave the Observer access to 500–600 AP stories daily, including all state wires and full sports coverage. According to the AP, Limited provided a “very tight selection of top breaking news from US, world, sports, business, entertainment—plus home state wire.” The daily content menu included:

• Top Breaking News: At least four top general news stories
• National: Up to 15 stories per day
• International: Up to five stories daily
• Business: Up to five stories daily, plus Wall Street wrap-up
• Sports: Up to three stories daily. Standings and scores on major pro sports. Scores only on major college games.
• Entertainment: One per day, with three People items
• Strange News: Two stories per day

Altogether, Limited members would receive between 35 and 40 stories per day, or approximately six percent of the “unfiltered firehose” of content that Thames had grown to expect. They would not receive any state wires beyond their own, meaning no South Carolina content. Furthermore, if Limited subscribers required stories above and beyond the guaranteed daily bundle, they would have to buy back into pricey AP vertical content categories, such as Sports, Money and Markets, Lifestyles, and News Analysis.

The system was structured such that members could test the Limited product, then upgrade to Complete at any time. However, if they took the full package, they were required to stay at that level for the duration of their two-year contract. Thames perceived this pricing model as “restrictive.” He observes:

I think that a lot of people feel that, from the standpoint of a large newspaper, it was set up in a way where we really don’t have a choice. I’ve tried to liken it to when you go to McDonald’s: “For this much, you can get a small drink, and for five cents more, you can get something the size of a small barrel.” That’s what this feels like. So I didn’t feel like it was a very attractive model for us. As we studied their pricing model, we saw that we had some stark choices to make.