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March 28, 2024

Gray Lady Moves Illustrate the Times

Important Details: Announcements are coming fast and furious at the New York Times, especially in and around its digital operations. The Gray Lady is getting a makeover, seemingly day by day. Given its April earnings announcement, which followed a poor first quarter, that makeover can’t happen fast enough.

For April, the Times reported that all the numbers were headed in the wrong direction:

  • Overall, revenues were down 2.2% year over year, with a 3.6% decline in advertising revenue.
  • Retail, national and classified advertising were all in negative territory, as was circulation revenue, down .7%.
  • Online revenue growth continued to slow, to 15.6%, though the company’s About.com division was up 26%.
  • Web audience grew 12%, year over year, to 42.9 million unique visitors in the US, 11th overall in the nation.

Those numbers were troubling, if unsurprising, given first-quarter results.

As significant is the number and kinds of moves the Times is making in its digital business. Just since May 1, the Times has:

  • Launched a new small business section on its site. Partnered with AllBusiness.com, SmallBusiness.org and Inc. Magazine, the site is heavy on resources for small business operators, as well as relevant news. It shows the Times’ attempt to niche, especially in the hot business and finance category.
  • Agreed to provide news video to MySpace, as that site ramps up its video offerings overall to compete with YouTube. The Times joins Reuters and National Geographic, as well as numerous entertainment providers.
  • About.com bought ConsumerSearch.com for $33 million, in a move to increase product reviews and information in 250 categories and acquire more advertiser-friendly page views. The purchase followed last year’s acquisition of UCompareHealthCare.com, another consumer choice site.

Implications: We can see the rapidity of change at the Times. Significantly, the company has acknowledged what Outsell has called a Stuff In/Stuff Out world. Times content, gold standard that it is, is no longer enough, so, to its credit, the company is bringing in other worthy content to satisfy its audiences. And in the MySpace deal, it’s moving on syndication – the Stuff Out part – knowing that destination publishing isn’t an end-all, be-all. These moves, each small in and of themselves, add up to a company coming to grips with all those negative earnings numbers.