New York (AFP)
The New York Times recorded a record three month net subscriptions online in the first quarter and doubled its traffic in March, offsetting the drop in advertising revenues linked to the coronavirus pandemic.
In the first quarter, the daily gained 587,000 digital subscribers net (deducting unsubscriptions), to reach 5 million in total, according to a press release published on Wednesday.
By adding the subscribers to the printed editions, the first American daily newspaper had, at the end of March, 5.8 million subscribers.
Subscriptions abroad now represent 18% of total digital subscribers, said chief financial officer Roland Caputo during a conference call.
Unsurprisingly, advertising, already at half mast before the coronavirus crisis, suffered from the pandemic sequence, with turnover down 15% over one year.
Group CEO Mark Thompson said the New York Times even forecast a 50 to 55 percent drop in advertising revenue in the second quarter.
The drop in advertising turnover should lead to redundancies in administrative posts, announced Mark Thompson, but the total staff of the group should increase by the end of the year with the recruitment of additional journalists.
The crisis has further validated the group's strategy, which has chosen to make digital subscriptions the primary growth and revenue engine of the New York Times, advertising being no more than a complement.
The daily newspaper is all the better positioned as it has no debts.
In total, turnover increased by 1% over one year to 443 million dollars.
Thanks to exceptional financial products, net profit increased 8.9% to $ 32 million.
In March, the New York Times recorded 2.5 billion page views, almost double its regular traffic, said group number two Meredith Kopit Levien.
© 2020 AFP