The New York Times headquarters, in New York, on Dec. 8, 2022.Julia Nikhinson/The Associated Press
The New York Times NYT-N handily beat expectations for digital subscriber growth in the second quarter, riding on its bundling strategy and strong growth at sports news website The Athletic in a summer dominated by the Euros and other tournaments.
The UEFA Champions League and the National Basketball Association playoffs boosted readership for The Athletic, driving a 19.4 per cent rise in subscription revenue to $29.3-million and a 30 per cent jump in advertising revenue to $7.1-million.
Total advertising revenue for the New York Times grew just 1.2 per cent as marketers earmarked their ad dollars for social media platforms like TikTok and Reddit that have much higher viewership.
To attract a wider audience, the publisher of the New York Times newspaper has been expanding its content distribution over the past few years by bundling podcasts, lifestyle articles and recipes.
NYT added around 300,000 digital-only subscribers in the second quarter, beating expectations of 186,900 according to five analysts polled by Visible Alpha.
It reported subscription revenue of $439.3-million for the second quarter, compared with estimates of $438.9-million, according to LSEG data.
Adjusted profit came in at 45 cents per share, compared with estimates of 40 cents, while its total revenue of $625.1-million was slightly lower than expectations of $625.2-million. Advertising revenue rose to $119.2-million, while analysts were expecting $120-million.