NYT print to be profitable for well over a decade: CEO

MUMBAI: The print business would be profitable for at least the next decade at The New York Times, said the chief executive of the publication, which has focused lately on digital subscriptions to reduce its reliance on an advertisement-driven business model.


It is also working on building new revenue streams involving global social media platforms, such as Google , Facebook and Twitter .

“I think it (the print business) will be contribution margin-positive for well over another decade,” Mark Thompson told ET on Monday. The executive is on a visit to India, where the publication now has about 30,000 subscribers for its digital edition.

Thompson said the company has no plans to enter India, one of the largest global media markets where quality newspaper readership is steadily increasing, in lockstep with advertising spend. “We are meeting some business partners and government officials,” Thompson said, without disclosing further details.

He joined The New York Times Company in November 2012 from the BBC. That coincided with a protracted slump in the US media market, and the revenue mix at the New York-based publication has changed dramatically since then. From a 4-to-1 ratio in favour of traditional advertising back then, the company now generates about 70% of its annual sales through digital subscriptions, with advertising revenue accounting for the rest of the topline, he said.

The publication is working toward monetising the use of content by the digital ecosystem, which is now ruled by platforms such as Google, Facebook and Twitter. These interactive technology majors never paid for content generated by pure-play news media companies.

The New York Times Company is among the mainstream media outlets now trying to collaborate with these platforms to cash in on quality and differentiated content. It has reached a multi-year arrangement with Facebook, with the social networking site paying for content generated by the US-based publication.

“I believe platforms should in one way or other help our business model to work, and one obvious way is by paying for it, and there’s nothing wrong with that,” Thompson said.

The publication has more than 4 million digital subscribers across the world, and is aiming at a 10 million base by 2025. The global nature of news business, and regional hubs for editorial operations in London and Hong Kong, have altered fundamentally company’s newsrooms, said Thompson.