Thursday 12 May 2016

New York Times post loss Q1 2016. How soon before it goes Digital only?



The very excellent New York Times (if you see it on a Saturday, just get it) reports a loss of 14 million usd in Q1 2016.

It's about the decline in print advertising but digital is up, although as usual, does not compensate for the print decline, just yet.

It added 67,000 digital subscribers in the quarter - huge - bringing it to 1.4 million overall. 

Total revenue in the quarter was 380 million usd and it's hard to understand (very very hard) with revenues like that, you can make a loss at all! 

Here's the point....Revenue from digital subs was 54 million. Revenue from print and digital advertising was less, at 42 million. 

There comes a time when the cost of printing the paper becomes so loss making because of the massive cost of production (paper, printing), whereas the cost of producing the digital edition is massively lower and profitable.

And with their growth in digital subscriptions, there has to come a point where it makes more sense for The New York Times to become digital only. 

It has to be an outcome. 

You heard it here first!

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