The New York Times Company launched its daily deals site on Thursday with a $325 cooking class at Mario Batali's Italian marketplace, Eataly.
TimesLimited, which was first reported earlier this month, features weekly, high-end offers for dining, travel, lifestyle, and entertainment experiences in the greater New York area.
"This is a natural extension for The Times," said spokeswoman Kristen Mason. "We believe we have the assets, the consumer reach and the relationships with the advertisers to create a product our users will enjoy."
Unlike Groupon, Living Social, and a horde of online coupon clones, TimesLimited does not require a minimum number of participants to activate the deal. And if the Eataly offer is any indication of what's to come, TimesLimited will probably go head to head with fellow upscale site Gilt City rather than Groupon or Living Social.
The Times isn't the first media company that has attempted to jump the daily deals bandwagon. PaidContent reports the Tribune, McClatchy, and Media General have all partnered with Groupon at some point.
The site arrives just days before the newspaper imposes a paywall on March 28, which has already been breached by hackers.
Earlier this week the publisher asked Twitter to shut down @freeNYT, an account that claims it will post all of the Times' articles for free. For more, see our exclusive Q&A with the person behind @freeNYT.