The New York Times now has more than 10 million subscribers, the company said on Wednesday, approaching its goal of 15 million by the end of 2027.
In its third-quarter report, The New York Times Company said it added 210,000 digital-only subscribers in the three months ended September, bringing the total to 9.41 million, and 670,000 print subscribers.
The Times Company has focused on getting subscribers to sign up for more than one of its offerings, including its core Cooking news story, Games, Wirecutter reviews site and sports news site The Athletic. Nearly 3.8 million of the 9.41 million digital-only subscribers subscribed to at least two products, the company said.
Meredith Kopit Levien, the company’s president and CEO, said in a statement that third-quarter results showed the Times’ “multi-product suite” performed well and would “propel us toward building a larger, more profitable company.” . ”
The Times Company posted adjusted operating income of $89.8 million in the quarter, up 30.1 percent from a year ago. Total revenue was $598.3 million, up 9.3 percent year over year.
The Athletic, which the Times Company bought for $550 million in early 2022, posted an adjusted operating loss of $7.9 million in the quarter, an improvement from a loss of $12.1 million a year earlier. The Athletic has lost about $68 million since the acquisition. Times executives said at the time of the deal that they expected The Athletic to take three years to become profitable.
The Athletic’s quarterly revenue rose 45.8 percent year-over-year to $34.4 million, driven by an increase in subscribers and the introduction of display advertising, according to The Times.
The Times eliminated its sports department in September and reporters and editors moved to other parts of the organization. Content from The Athletic, which operates separately from the Times’ central newsroom, is now used in the Times’ print newspaper and digital report.
Despite a challenging advertising environment across the industry, The Times reported a 6.7 percent year-over-year increase in digital ad revenue to $75 million, driven in part by new ad sales for The Athletic. Total advertising revenue rose 6 percent to $117.1 million.
The Times, like other newspapers, has seen a steady decline in print subscribers. It lost 70,000 last year.
For the final quarter of this year, the company expects total subscription revenue to increase 8 to 11 percent year-over-year on an adjusted basis, while digital advertising revenue is forecast to increase in the single-digit percentage range.
Source : www.nytimes.com