New York Times CEO: Print journalism has maybe another 10 years
New York Times CEO: Print journalism has maybe another 10
years
New York Times print products may last another 10 years,
says the company's CEO, Mark Thompson.
As the company continues to build its digital presence,
it will re-evaluate the demand for print, Thompson says.
Meanwhile, the company added 157,000 new digital
subscriptions in the last quarter of 2017.
By Kellie Ell Published February 12, 2018
The newspaper printing presses may have another decade of
life in them, New York Times CEO Mark Thompson told CNBC on Monday.
"I believe at least 10 years is what we can see in
the U.S. for our print products," Thompson said on "Power
Lunch." He said he'd like to have the print edition "survive and
thrive as long as it can," but admitted it might face an expiration date.
"We'll decide that simply on the economics," he
said. "There may come a point when the economics of [the print paper] no
longer make sense for us."
"The key thing for us is that we're pivoting,"
Thompson said. "Our plan is to go on serving our loyal print subscribers
as long as we can. But meanwhile to build up the digital business, so that we
have a successful growing company and a successful news operation long after
print is gone."
Digital subscriptions, in fact, may be what's keeping the
New York Times afloat for a new generation of readers. While Thompson said the
number of print subscribers is relatively constant, "with a little bit of
a decline every time," the company said last week that it added 157,000
digital subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2017. The majority were new
subscribers, but that number also included cooking and crossword subscriptions.
Revenue from digital subscriptions increased more than 51
percent in the quarter compared with a year earlier. Overall subscription
revenue increased 19.2 percent.
Meanwhile, the company's fourth-quarter earnings and
revenue beat analysts expectations, "even though the print side of the
business is still somewhat challenged," Thompson said. Total revenue rose
10 percent from a year earlier to $484.1 million. New York Times' shares have
risen more than 20 percent this year.
Even with the recent market volatility the stock is up 8
percent from last week.
Under Thompson's leadership, the New York Times has
become the first news organization in the world to pass the 1 million
digital-only subscription mark.
"Without question we make more money on a print
subscriber," Thompson said. "But the point about digital is that we
believe we can grow many, many more of them. We've already got more digital
than print subscribers. Digital is growing very rapidly. Ultimately, there will
be many times the number of digital subscribers compared to print."
Comments
Post a Comment