NY Mag story on the NY Times' resurgence

Small Town Guy · Jul 24, 2011

Seth Mnookin with a story in New York Magazine on the Times and how Sulzberger, much to the surprise of many, has seemingly made a series of really good decisions that have put the paper in a great position at a time when many figured they'd be writing its obit.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the graveyard. Though the Times’ circulation dipped during the crash years, much of the lost revenue was made up for by doubling the newsstand price, from $1 to $2—evidence, the paper insisted, that its premium audience understood the value of a premium product. In March, after several years of planning and tens of millions in investments, the Times launched a digital-subscription plan—and the early signs were good. In fact, less than 48 hours before my interview, the Times announced it would finish paying back the Carlos Slim loan in full on August 15, three and a half years early. When they were released last week, the company’s second-quarter financial results showed an overall loss largely owing to the write-down of some regional papers, but they also contained a much more important piece of data: The digital-subscription plan—the famous “paywall”—was working better than anyone had dared to hope.
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http://nymag.com/news/media/new-york-times-2011-8/

BrianGriffin · Jul 26, 2011

Small Town Guy said:

Seth Mnookin with a story in New York Magazine on the Times and how Sulzberger, much to the surprise of many, has seemingly made a series of really good decisions that have put the paper in a great position at a time when many figured they'd be writing its obit.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the graveyard. Though the Times’ circulation dipped during the crash years, much of the lost revenue was made up for by doubling the newsstand price, from $1 to $2—evidence, the paper insisted, that its premium audience understood the value of a premium product. In March, after several years of planning and tens of millions in investments, the Times launched a digital-subscription plan—and the early signs were good. In fact, less than 48 hours before my interview, the Times announced it would finish paying back the Carlos Slim loan in full on August 15, three and a half years early. When they were released last week, the company’s second-quarter financial results showed an overall loss largely owing to the write-down of some regional papers, but they also contained a much more important piece of data: The digital-subscription plan—the famous “paywall”—was working better than anyone had dared to hope.
Click to expand...

http://nymag.com/news/media/new-york-times-2011-8/
Click to expand...

I attended a webinar today with the Times on this subject.

The biggest take-away? Your brand had better be good. The Times is great at branding both its paper in general and its best writers. You need that to pull this off. A lot of places aren't good at establishing a brand. It goes back to what I've said about our industry for a long time: It was such a slam-dunk as a business model, there weren't any business people in the business, if that makes sense.

YankeeFan · Jul 27, 2011

Brand? What's that?

DanOregon · Jul 27, 2011

A lot of papers are charging half what the NY Times is and they aren't even close to being half as good.
Also - the problem with the Internet is that it doesn't matter if you are the best - or in most cases only - paper in your neck of the woods - all papers are competing with the New York Times on some level.

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NY Mag story on the NY Times' resurgence

Small Town Guy Well-Known Member

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NY Mag story on the NY Times' resurgence

Small Town Guy Well-Known Member

BrianGriffin Active Member

YankeeFan Well-Known Member

DanOregon Well-Known Member

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