New York Times passes 11m subscribers on eve of US election
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Nearly all of The New York Times 11.09 million subscribers are for digital products only, not the print newspaper.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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NEW YORK – The New York Times added roughly 260,000 paid digital subscribers in the third quarter of 2024, the company said on Nov 4, crossing the threshold of 11 million total subscribers for the first time.
The company’s adjusted operating profit for the quarter, which ran from July through September, rose 16.1 per cent to US$104.2 million (S$137.5 million), from US$89.8 million a year before. Overall revenue increased 7 per cent to US$640.2 million, compared with the same period in 2023.
The Times has a stated goal of reaching 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027. It had 11.09 million subscribers at the end of the third quarter, 10.47 million of which were to digital products only, not the print newspaper.
Earlier on Nov 4, before the earnings were released, the Times Tech Guild, which represents more than 600 of the company’s tech workers, went on strike. The union and the company are negotiating over pay increases and other issues.
Ms Meredith Kopit Levien, president and chief executive of The New York Times Company, said in a statement accompanying the earnings announcement that more than 5 million of the 11 million subscriptions were now either for multiple Times products, which include digital news, Cooking, Games, Wirecutter and The Athletic, or a bundle of all products offered.
“We believe that portfolio, and our ability to keep adding value to it over time, is what makes the Times resilient in a changing media landscape, and well positioned to become a larger, more profitable company,” Ms Levien said in a statement.
Digital subscription revenue jumped 14.2 per cent from a year earlier. Digital advertising revenue was also up, with an increase of 8.8 per cent year over year.
Adjusted operating costs increased 5.4 per cent from a year earlier to US$536 million, from US$508.6 million. The operating costs included US$4.6 million for the lawsuit the Times filed in 2023 against Microsoft and OpenAI, contending that the companies unlawfully used copyrighted material to train their generative AI chatbots.
The Athletic, the sports news website that the Times bought in 2022 for US$550 million, made a quarterly profit for the first time since the purchase. Its adjusted operating profit for the third quarter rose to US$2.6 million, from a loss of US$7.9 million in the same period in 2023. The company said the increase came from higher subscription and advertising revenue. NYTIMES
