It was another bleak quarter for the New York Times, which keeps on shrinking. The New York Times announced third quarter earnings this morning. Total revenues were down 17 percent to $571 million. Of that advertising revenues decreased 27 percent to $291 million, and the online advertising portion was down 8.2 percent to $68 million.
The earnings report follows yet more newsroom cuts of 100 people announced last week.
There is a ray of hope, though, that the worst may be behind the storied newspaper company. Last quarter, advertising revenues declined an even steeper 32 percent, and online advertising was down 15.5 percent. So maybe this is the first step on its way back to positive territory. Here are the year-over-year declines in online advertising revenues for each of the past four quarters.
Annual Decline In Internet Advertising Revenues
4Q08: -3.5%
1Q09: -6.1%
2Q09: -15.5%
3Q09: -8.2%
Another interesting data point is that because its print advertising revenues are shrinking at a faster rate than its Internet advertising revenues, the Internet portion is actually a bigger percentage (23.5%) of the New York Times’ total advertising revenues than it was year ago (when it was 18.6%). So nearly a quarter of the New York Times’ total advertising dollars now come from online. Depending on which type of advertising recovers faster, that percentage may continue to grow.
(Remember, the New York Times also has circulation revenues, so Internet advertising is still a smaller percentage of total revenues).
wow! I kind of feel like there is no end in sight. The newspaper industry is just continuing to go down hill. It seems as if businesses would rather advertise different places. Especially the Internet.
very simply said and very true. You squeezed all media paradigm shift into one sentence
Time to consolidate newspaper industry. Online venture is fine, but they should open up commenting, especially replies. NYT editors replying in comments would be great, but less likely to happen before losing out.
I get the feeling you guys take some sort of sadistic pleasure from reporting just how bad your old media rivals are faring. I mean its interesting, but its not as if NYT is the only newspaper out there, or one that’s indicative of the industry as a whole.
I get the feeling you think all the other papers released earning reports this morning too. Come on, get a grip with reality.
talk to someone who’s selling heidelberg printing presses and see how their business is doing…
The same is happening to German “Bild” Zeitung and the UK “Guardian”! The top papers increase their traffic significantly in these days!
I don’t have a lot of sympathy for some (most) old media outlets because they dragged their feet for too long when it came to adapting to online content. But the NYT.com really is an innovator; it’s the best news site on the planet, IMO, so it would be a huge loss if they couldn’t remain solvent.
With the help of all of us logging in everyday NYT will continue to decline, http://www.aedesigns.net.
Would be interesting to know the financial break down of Business Week as well.
I think it’s sad. NYT is a quality paper and cutting newsroom jobs just means less news and more rushed articles. Very sad.
well, it was quality but it was biased also. Looks like public doesn’t want to be teached what’s good for them anymore. They like their newly found freedom
I ate a brisket sandwich at 6 am
I wonder if a decline necessarily means extinction.
It’s sad but it’s inevitable. Readers dictate how they want their news and what they’re willing to pay for it. Those papers, and hopefully the Times is one of them, that can adapt and keep their heads above water will endure and reap the rewards of their efforts.
More Filler, Less Taste
In a recent online NY Times article, ‘$13 an Hour? 500 Sign Up, 1 Wins a Job,’ the reporter answered a good number of reader comments. It seemed as though he was trying to go above and beyond normal job responsibilities. For good reason, as he’d be lucky to find a $13 / hr + newsroom position outside the NY Times. Although he’d probably be making over 100k in corporate PR in short time.
Extinction is just a matter of time without a complete tear down and rebuilding of the business.
While a change from 15.5% to 8.2% may seem like the bleeding is slowing, that data point doesn’t take into consideration the news room cuts.
Oh Erick and his math.
No, Erick, 68MM isn’t almost a quarter. It’s almost 19%. Like, almost a fifth. Sure, 68MM vs 291MM is almost a quarter. But in order to get ALL the ADVERTISING revenue, you need to add the two.
And then divide 68MM by the total.
Which is 18.94%.
In order for it to be almost a quarter, it’d have to be 89MM or so. Or, in mathy terms, growth of roughly 30%.
Sigh.
No, $291M is total advertising revenues, including online. Look at the P&L. My math is correct.
I think year over year statistics are really not that informative since the economy has been through such a perturbation this last year.
Anyone else notice that Federated Media is now selling or co selling the NYT’s online inventory. You would think that would be news, but its gone under the radar
The New York Times has great editorial and like all newspaper companies should be moving to the web faster than they currently are.
NYT should offer Kindle or B&N’s PlasticLogic reader to new subscribers. If they’d eat part of the cost I’d gladly snatch up a two year contract with their online paper.
There is nothing wrong with the NYTimes. I think it is part of their master plan:
Shrink itself to a small business, then read it’s “Small Business” section on how to prosper in a recession.
They will be able to take their own advice like: “How Can We Compete With the Big Boys?” http://boss.blo...h-the-big-boys/