Nice piece by NetNewsCheck on the plan by Cincinnati television station WCPO, owned by E.W. Scripps, to launch a paid-content model in January.

“This is a very aggressive experiment, and I guess I’d be pleased if they’re scratching their heads because that means that they’re not going to compete with us in the short term,” (CEO Rich Boehne) says. “So maybe we’ll get a good head start.”

The real question, Boehne says, is why other television stations haven’t tried it sooner. “Especially watching what the nation’s newspapers are doing, why in the world would we not give this a try?”

Scripps’ portfolio includes a number of daily newspapers in 13 markets that have already launched paywalls, so Boehne may be less averse than many to pull the trigger asking consumers to pay for something they’re long used to getting for free.

(Full discolsure departemnt: I work for E.W. Scripps)