{"id":17512,"date":"2016-11-18T07:59:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T12:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/keeping-up-with-the-times-at-the-new-york-times\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T07:59:10","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T12:59:10","slug":"keeping-up-with-the-times-at-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/keeping-up-with-the-times-at-the-new-york-times\/","title":{"rendered":"Keeping up with the Times at the New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

The New York Times<\/strong><\/p>\n

Founded in 1851, the New York Times is historically thought of as a newspaper. For over 150 years, the NYT has earned its keep by providing readers with high-quality, well-researched journalism. However, with the rise of the digital age, and a proliferation of free content, the U.S. newspaper industry has seen widespread bankruptcies and significant job losses. Only a few companies that focus on traditional print publications still exist [1]. The NYT, one of the few survivors, has been forced to reinvent itself as \u201ca global media organization focused on creating, collecting, and distributing high-quality news and information\u201d [2].<\/p>\n

Challenges in the Digital Era<\/strong><\/p>\n

The New York Times considers its competitive edge to be the integrity of its journalism \u2013 content worth paying for. By attracting customers to its high-quality content, the NYT also serves as an attractive advertising platform. Among other things, the NYT is known for its captivating long-form articles. However, research shows that the digital lifestyle is decreasing our ability for prolonged focus, and increasing our appetites for more stimuli. In 2013 the average human attention span was found to be 8 seconds, shorter than that of a goldfish [4]. With an increasing availability of succinct, captivating, free content on sites like The Huffington Post and Buzz Feed, consumers are increasingly less willing to pay for 1) physical newspapers and 2) online content. These trends are apparent in the NYT\u2019s recent earnings reports. From 2013 to 2015, the NYT\u2019s number of weekday-only print subscriptions dropped 69% from 1.9 to 0.6 million [2,3].<\/p>\n

Paid Digital Subscriptions<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what is the New York Times doing to stay relevant, profitable, and true to their journalistic mission? In 2011, the NYT made a bold decision to charge for its digital content. After reading 20 articles per month, readers would be asked to pay a digital subscription fee for access to the full site. In 2015, the NYT reached 1.1 million digital-only subscribers with roughly $400 million in revenue coming from digital-only subscriptions and digital advertising. The company celebrates these numbers, but also realizes that they are not enough to sustain their extensive newsroom. The NYT has set forth a goal of reaching $800 million in digital-only subscription and advertising revenue by 2020 [5].<\/p>\n

Opportunities: Mobile, Customization, and Content Creation<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2014, the NYT launched NYT Now: a mobile app that offered a cheaper alternative to a full NYT subscription, specifically focused on younger, more smartphone-centric readers. The app was sold for $8 a month for a year, and signed up only 20,000 users, many who already had NYT subscriptions. After a year in operation, the app became free, and after two years, NYT Now shut down. Although the app did not yield a huge number of viewers, the NYT viewed it as valuable proof that the company could innovate quickly, communicate visually, and talk to readers in a more casual way, while still being The New York Times [6].<\/p>\n

The NYT publishes over 300 articles, interactive stories, and blogposts per day. Digital consumption gives the NYT the opportunity to guide readers through a personalized experience, tailored to their reading habits and preferences. In 2015, the NYT altered its model to select content based on a reader\u2019s preferences for article topics (ex: politics), rather than keywords (ex: Clinton), offering a similar proportion to what the reader has self-selected in the past (ex: 60% politics). These recommendations are reflected in personalized emails, and the \u201cRecommended for You\u201d section of NYTimes.com [7].<\/p>\n

In addition to providing consumers with personalized, digital content, the NYT has made significant changes to what that content is. The NYT attempts to engage our ever-shortening attention spans through visual and video storytelling, daily briefings, live blogging, and analytical analysis. The NYT made a virtual reality app for Google Cardboard, and was awarded the top two places in Innovative Storytelling at the World Press Photo Multimedia Contest for VR films, \u201cThe Displaced\u201d and \u201cGreenland is Melting Away\u201d.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s Next?<\/strong><\/p>\n

The New York Times has created a relatively fluid connection between print and digital media for those who subscribe to their digital service. However, the ultimate failure of NYTimes Now sends a resounding message that most millennials are not willing to pay for incrementally better news content. With half of their revenue coming from paid advertising, the NYT must maintain high readership to continue attracting advertisers. As we learned from Rdio\u2019s failure, success in digital is a numbers game, and often a free tier is necessary to gain marketshare. The NYT should maintain its existing paid digital service for premium users (mostly Baby Boomers and Gen X) and release an advertising supported app aimed at millennials. The NYT must use digital technologies to optimize today and<\/em> create tomorrow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Word Count: 789<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1] Anthony, Scott, \u201cWhat the Media Industry Can Teach Us About Digital Business Models,\u201c Harvard Business Review, June 10, 2015, https:\/\/hbr.org\/2015\/06\/what-the-media-industry-can-teach-us-about-digital-business-models<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[2] New York Times Annual Earnings Report 2015, http:\/\/s1.q4cdn.com\/156149269\/files\/doc_financials\/annual\/2015\/Bookmarked-2015-Annual-Report.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[3] New York Times Annual Earnings Report 2013, http:\/\/s1.q4cdn.com\/156149269\/files\/doc_financials\/annual\/2013\/2013%20Annual%20Report.pdf<\/a>, , accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[4] Microsoft Canada, Consumer Insights, \u201cAttention Spans,\u201d Spring 2015, file:\/\/\/C:\/Users\/RuthH\/Downloads\/microsoft-attention-spans-research-report.pdf, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[5] New York Times Executive Team, \u201cOur Path Forward,\u201d October 7, 2015, http:\/\/www.nytco.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Our-Path-Forward.pdf<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[6] Ellis, Justin, \u201cA New NYT Now: All the aggregation you enjoyed before, now for free,\u201d May 11, 2015, http:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2015\/05\/a-new-nyt-now-all-the-aggregation-you-enjoyed-before-now-for-free\/<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

[7] Spangher, Alexander, \u201cBuilding the Next New York Times Recommendation Engine,\u201d August 11, 2015, http:\/\/open.blogs.nytimes.com\/2015\/08\/11\/building-the-next-new-york-times-recommendation-engine\/<\/a>, accessed November 2016.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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