Users are often upset about any change whatsoever. A certain percentage of people simply don't like the things they're familiar with changing at all. They will complain loudly. You have to ignore these people to succeed. If you let them convince you to remain static you will lose.

I don't think that's the case here though. It's hard for me to be objective, but I'm fairly certain this change was executed poorly and may have been an entirely mistaken course.

> ...[they] never suggest any specifically or show any evidence they would actually gain traction.

Leo Laporte makes $1.5MM/year on his podcasts with sponsorships. I doubt Mixergy will make that with paid subscriptions anytime soon, yet it has an even more valuable audience. TechCrunch makes a heck of a lot more than that. Imagine how much money Techcrunch would be making if it had gone subscription a year or two into its life.