The New York Times Company is one of the most well-known media companies in the world with numerous well known brands. First and foremost is its namesake, The New York Times. It also operates numerous other brands, including:
Wirecutter, a product review site, which it bought in 2016 for a little more than $30 million
The Athletic, a sports news publication, which it bought in 2022 for $550 million
Cooking, which is an in-depth recipes business
Games, which is a collection of games like Crossword, Wordle, etc.
The New York Times Company has been a subscription-first company for years now, but has retained a very healthy advertising business.
Full Year 2024
Revenue (in thousands)
Q1 2024
Q1 2023
% Change
NYTG
Subscription
$401,370
$374,156
7.3%
Advertising
$98,004
$102,090
-4.0%
Other
$58,020
$56,536
2.6%
Total
$557,394
$532,782
The Athletic
Subscription
$27,635
$23,386
18.2%
Advertising
$5,707
$4,151
37.5%
Other
$3,842
$420
Total
$37,184
$27,957
33.0%
The New York Times Company
Subscription
$429,005
$397,542
7.9%
Advertising
$103,711
$106,241
-2.4%
Other
$61,299
$56,956
7.6%
Total
$594,015
$560,739
5.9%
Types of Subscribers
(in thousands)
Q1 2024
Q4 2023
Q3 2023
Q2 2023
Q1 2023
Q4 2022
Digital-only Subscribers
9,910
9,700
9,410
9,190
9,020
8,830
Bundle and Multiproduct
4,550
4,220
3,790
3,300
3,020
2,500
News-Only
2,500
2,740
3,020
3,320
3,580
3,920
Other Single-Product
2,860
2,740
2,600
2,580
2,420
2,410
Print Subscribers
640
660
670
690
710
730
Total Subscribers
10,550
10,360
10,080
9,880
9,730
9,550
Digital-Only Subscribers with The Athletic
4,990
4,650
4,180
3,640
3,270
2,680
ARPU
(in thousands except ARPU)
Q1 2024
Q4 2023
Q3 2023
Q2 2023
Q1 2023
Q4 2022
Digital-only subscriber ARPU:
Bundle and Multiproduct
$11.79
$12.13
$12.81
$13.40
$14.33
$15.20
News-Only
$10.88
$10.38
$10.05
$9.29
$8.69
$8.49
Other Single Product
43.59
$3.56
$3.48
$3.57
$3.67
$3.65
Total Digital-Only ARPU
$9.21
$9.24
$9.28
$9.15
$9.04
$8.93
Operating Costs
Operating Costs (in thousands)
Q1 2024
Q1 2023
% Change
Cost of revenue (ex. D&A)
$292,457
$284,323
2.9%
Sales and Marketing
$55,481
$58,932
-5.9%
Product Development
$54,865
$50,832
7.9%
G&A
$69,847
$73,408
-4.9%
Depreciation & Amortization
$20,706
$20,840
-0.6%
Full Year 2023
Revenue (in thousands)
Q4 2023
Q4 2022
% Change
Q3 2023
Q3 2022
% Change
Q2 2023
Q2 2022
% Change
Q1 2023
Q1 2022
% Change
NYTG
Subscription
$403,575
$390,585
3.3%
$392,937
$361,488
8.7%
$385,037
$366,620
5.0%
$373,466
$361,602
3.30%
Advertising
$154,170
$173,865
-11.3%
$108,672
$108,134
0.5%
$112,329
$114,832
-2.2%
$102,090
$114,490
-10.80%
Other
$80,613
$73,763
9.3%
$62,294
$54,439
14.4%
$63,128
$54,682
15.4%
$56,536
$49,176
15.00%
Total
$638,358
$638,213
$563,903
$524,061
7.6%
$560,494
$536,134
4.5%
$532,092
$525,268
1.30%
The Athletic
Subscription
$26,869
$ 23,507
14.3%
$25,640
$ 21,184
21.0%
$ 24,553
$ 16,999
44.4%
$24,076
$10,377
–%
Advertising
$9,912
$ 5,307
86.8%
$8,441
$ 2,333
$ 5,441
$ 2,547
$4,151
$1,780
–%
Other
$1,732
$ 509
$361
$ 102
$ 365
$420
—
–%
Total
$38,513
$ 29,323
31.3%
$34,442
$ 23,619
45.8%
$ 30,359
$ 19,546
55.3%
$28,647
$12,157
–%
The New York Times Company
Subscription
$430,444
$414,092
3.9%
$418,577
$382,672
9.4%
$409,590
$383,619
6.8%
$397,542
$371,979
6.90%
Advertising
$ 64,082
$179,172
-8.4%
$117,113
$110,467
6.0%
$ 117,770
$ 117,379
0.3%
$106,241
$116,270
-8.60%
Other
$81,689
$74,272
10.0%
$62,655
$ 54,541
14.9%
$ 63,493
$ 54,682
16.1%
$56,956
$49,176
15.80%
Total
$676,215
$667,536
1.3%
$598,345
$547,680
9.3%
$590,853
$555,680
6.3%
$560,739
$537,425
4.30%
Operating Costs
Operating Costs (in thousands)
Q4 2023
Q4 2022
% Change
Q3 2023
Q3 2022
% Change
Q2 2023
Q2 2022
% Change
Q1 2023
Q1 2022
% Change
Cost of revenue (ex. D&A)
$321,151
$332,129
-3.3%
$311,135
$294,856
5.5%
$309,923
$300,583
3.1%
$306,852
$281,365
9.1%
Sales and Marketing
$68,317
$62,464
9.4%
$62,635
$64,732
-3.2%
$62,241
$62,769
-0.8%
$67,034
$77,588
-13.6%
Product Development
$58,262
$55,456
5.1%
$57,433
$50,474
13.8%
$56,047
$50,822
10.3%
$57,062
$47,433
20.3%
G&A
$75,845
$76,791
-1.2%
$81,870
$71,970
13.8%
$72,273
$69,141
4.5%
$81,051
$71,357
13.6%
D&A
$21,942
$21,504
2.0%
$21,475
$21,760
-1.3%
$21,858
$20,704
5.6%
$20,840
$18,686
11.5%
Q1 2023 Commentary
This was the quarter of price increases for the subscription business. We can see that playing out with digital-only subscriber ARPU increasing from $8.93 to $9.04 quarter-over-quarter, a $0.11 increase. Compare that to Q2-Q4 where it only grew by $0.10. There are two contributors to this:
Strong growth in the digital-only bundle and multi-product subscribers category. In Q4 2022, that was 2,500,000, whereas in Q1, that grew to 3,020,000. If this continues to grow faster than digital-only subscribers with news, it’s indicative of the marketing funnels working to get more users upgraded to the more expensive package.
About 550,000 subscribers saw their price increased in Q1 2023, with 500,000 being news-only. The company anticipates an additional 700,000 people in multi-product seeing their price increase in Q2 with a total of 1.5 million subscribers by end of year. This will contribute to ARPU continuing to rise and I anticipate ARPU will return to the pre-Athletic acquisition highs.
Q1 is historically a weak quarter from an advertising perspective, but it’s clear that the macroeconomic environment is impacting the company. Ironically, The Athletic’s ad business being so nascent and growing helped offset some of the overall drop in ad revenue for the company.
During the quarter, The New York Times Co. hired Joy Robbins, formerly the CRO at Washington Post, to be Global Chief Advertising Officer. As CEO Meredith Kopit Levien explained, “Joy is our first outside executive hire in advertising in a decade and has hit the ground running with our strong team.”
On the cost side, the business is getting more expensive to run, which is expected. Journalism costs are included in “cost of revenue,” since that is the primary product people are subscribing for. At the same time, sales and marketing dropping by 13.6% year-over-year while subscriptions continue to grow is a sign of a healthy business.
Platform referral traffic was a topic from one of the analysts when he asked, “you’ve made several references over the quarter that the big platforms were sending less leads to The Times. Can you quantify that impact of that versus year-over-year or quarter-over-quarter.”
Kopit Levien didn’t offer any specific numbers, but she said one thing that’s important for operators to consider: “Four of our five products are also destinations.” Brand matters and NYT&Co is leaning into that to ensure its business stays strong whether platforms play friendly or not.
Full Year 2022
Revenue (in thousands)
Q4 2022
Q4 2021
% Change
Q3 2022
Q3 2021
% Change
Q2 2022
Q2 2021
% Change
Q1 2022
Q1 2021
% Change
NYTG
Subscription
$389,991
$351,205
11.0%
$360,997
$342,609
5.4%
$366,620
$339,217
8.1%
$361,602
$329,084
9.9%
Advertising
$173,865
$176,759
-1.6%
$108,134
$110,887
-2.5%
$114,832
$112,774
1.8%
$114,490
$97,116
17.9%
Other
$73,763
$66,268
11.3%
$51,439
$55,607
-2.1%
$54,682
$46,506
17.6%
$49,176
$46,845
5.0%
Total
$637,649
$594,232
7.3%
$523,570
$509,103
2.8%
$536,134
$498,497
7.6%
$525,268
$473,045
11.0%
The Athletic
Subscription
$24,101
—
–%
$21,675
—
–%
$16,999
—
–%
$10,377
—
–%
Advertising
$5,307
—
–%
$2,333
—
–%
$2,547
—
–%
$1,780
—
–%
Other
$509
—
–%
$102
—
–%
—
—
–%
—
—
–%
Total
$29,917
$24,110
—
$19,546
—
$12,157
—
–%
The New York Times Company
Subscription
$414,092
$351,205
17.9%
$382,672
$342,609
11.7%
$383,619
$339,217
13.1%
$371,979
$329,084
13.0%
Advertising
$179,172
$176,759
1.4%
$110,467
$110,887
-0.4%
$117,379
$112,774
4.1%
$116,270
$97,116
19.7%
Other
$74,272
$66,268
12.1%
$54,541
$55,607
-1.9%
$54,682
$46,506
17.6%
$49,176
$46,845
5.0%
Total
$667,536
$594,232
12.3%
$547,680
$509,103
7.6%
$555,680
$498,497
11.5%
$537,425
$473,045
13.6%
Types of Subscribers
(In thousands)
Q4 2022
Q3 2022
Q2 2022
Q1 2022
Q4 2021
Digital-only subscribers
8,830
8,590
8,410
8,230
6,783
Print subscribers
730
740
760
780
795
Total subscribers
9,550
9,330
9,170
9,010
7,578
Additional Subscriber Numbers
(in thousands except ARPU)
Q4 2022
Q3 2022
Q2 2022
Q1 2022
Q4 2021
Digital-only subscriber ARPU
$8.93
$8.87
$8.83
$9.13
$9.60
Digital-only bundle and multiproduct subscribers
2,500
2,130
1,980
1,835
1,607
Digital-only subscribers with news
6,370
6,210
6,140
6,101
5,826
Digital-only subscribers with The Athletic
2,680
2,290
1,690
1,216
—
Operating Costs
Operating Costs (in thousands)
Q4 2022
Q4 2021
Q3 2022
Q3 2021
Q2 2022
Q2 2021
Q1 2022
Q1 2021
Cost of Revenue (ex. D&A)
$332,129
$280,235
$294,856
$256,978
$300,583
$251,358
$281,365
$250,997
Sales and Marketing
$62,464
$97,472
$64,732
$83,767
$62,769
$53,555
$77,588
$60,153
Product Development
$55,456
$41,591
$50,474
$40,638
$50,822
$39,699
$47,433
$38,943
G&A
$76,791
$66,846
$71,970
$64,418
$69,141
$62,283
$71,357
$56,577
Depreciation & Amortization
$21,504
$13,973
$21,760
$14,326
$20,704
$14,486
$18,686
$14,717
Q4 2022 Commentary
Subscription revenue continues to climb, which is a function of two things: ARPU growth & top-line subscriber growth.
First, ARPU is incrementally moving up after the completion of The Athletic deal. In Q4 2021, it was $9.60, but The Athletic is a less expensive product, which is expected to pull down ARPU. Incrementally increasing ARPU is indicative of the company getting more people into the bundle of products and moving more people out of lower-priced trials.
Second, The New York Times has grown the subscriber base from 9,010,000 in Q1 2022 to 9,550,000 in Q4 2022 (this includes The Athletic acquisition).
The Athletic remains a money loser, and has cost the company a collective $35,874,000 since the acquisition closed. However, there are signs of The Athletic playing its part as part of the bundle as well as a standalone business.
There are 2,680,000 Digital-only subscribers with The Athletic. This is up from only 1,216,000 in Q1 and 1,690,000 in Q2.
There is a nascent, but growing advertising business. In Q4, 2022, The Athletic generated $5,307,000 in advertising revenue. This is currently only 3% of how much The New York Times Group generates, but for a business that billed itself as “anti-advertising,” it’s a step in the right direction.
At the company level, advertising remains a slow growing part of the business. Despite an otherwise tough advertising market, the company realized 1.4% growth quarter-over-quarter to $179,172 million.
Meredith Kopit Levien, CEO, said on the earnings call: “Advertising revenues exceeded our expectations in the quarter in both digital and print, demonstrating the enduring value of our first-party data and premium ad products and the appeal of the Times brand to a wide range of marketers even in a challenging macroeconomic environment.”
A major contributor to profitability for The New York Times was a major reduction in sales & marketing operating costs year-over-year. The company’s ability to improve ARPU and grow subscribers while reducing sales & marketing costs is a function of a sticky, in-demand product.
Kopit Levien said: “Over the last year, we’ve talked about being ready to begin leveraging the investments we’ve been making for years in our journalism and digital product experiences, and as a result, slow cost growth. We’ve done so now for the second quarter in a row. We’ve become more effective at driving subscription growth through our organic audience engine and digital product work, allowing us to substantially reduce marketing spend.”