This application, available on iOS, the operating system of Apple's iPhone, "now allows our audience to take the +Times+ to times when reading is not an option, such as dog walks or transportation," said Stephanie Preiss, vice president of The New York Times Audio.
Contacted, a spokesperson did not indicate a date when a presence on Android.
On the menu of The New York Times Audio, podcasts already exist, such as "The Daily", which dissects every day a current topic, but also a daily newspaper, articles read, sports topics from The Athletic site, bought in 2022 by the New York Times, or a selection of recipes, books or TV programs and streaming.
With this new offer, free but reserved for the newspaper's digital subscribers, the New York daily strengthens its presence in the audio journalism sector, which has experienced a revolution since the launch of podcasts.
The New York Times had already bought in 2020 the creative production company of the podcast series of investigative criminal cases "Serial", which will be available in its new application.
As for the "Daily", it had, at the end of 2022, 129 million downloads per month, according to the New York Times. The newspaper claims more than 9 million subscribers (internet and paper combined).
The company has been looking for several years to diversify its offer and has successfully launched subscriptions to recipes (NYT Cooking) or an online gaming platform, including the Wordle letter game.
The acquisition of The Athletic in early 2022 for $550 million allows the newspaper to target 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027.
© 2023 AFP