The New York Times’ digital sales overtake print for first time
The New York Times beat Wall Street expectations in its second-quarter results today, as its digital efforts overtook its print business for the first time.
The firm’s digital products, which includes online news, podcasts, recipes and crosswords, gained 669,000 subscribers in the quarter.
More than half of the New York Times’ revenue comes from subscriptions, as revenue from that division rose 8.4 per cent to $293.19m. It now has 5.7m digital-only subscribers, and 6.5m subscriptions overall.
Excluding items, the company earned 18 cents per share in the quarter ended 30 June, beating analysts’ estimate of one cent per share.
The digital boost helped the company tide over a 43.9 per cent drop in advertising revenue, as print circulation remains affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
The US newspaper giant has been shifting towards a subscriber-backed model in an effort to cut its reliance on advertising.
It said it expects the bounce to continue, predicting that third-quarter digital subscription revenue will rise about 30 per cent.
“We posted our best-ever results for new digital subscriptions, and for the first time in our history total digital revenue exceeded print revenue,” outgoing chief executive Mark Thompson said in a statement.
Meanwhile the New York Times warned that advertising revenue will continue to be strained, forecasting a decline of between 35 per cent and 40 per cent in the third quarter.
The company’s overall revenue fell 7.5 per cent to $403.75m, surpassing analysts’ estimates of $387.18m.