[ad_1]
The company said on Wednesday that the New York Times Company had hit its 10 million subscription goal ahead of schedule, largely supported by the 1.2 million it gained through its acquisition of sports news website The Athletic.
$550 million deal for The Athletic announced last monthThe company said it was completed on Tuesday.
In its quarterly earnings report, the company said in the final three months of 2021, before Athletic’s acquisition, The Times added 375,000 digital subscriptions. These additions included 171,000 to the main news product, the majority of which were for The Times’ other digital offerings: Games with puzzles; Recipes application; Wirecutter, product recommendation site; and Audm, which produces audio versions of text-based journalism.
In the last week of December, The Times had almost 8.8 million subscribers. There was around 5.9 million for digital news, over two million for other digital products, and a shade below 800,000 for print newspaper.
The Times also announced a new goal on Wednesday: It said it will aim to have at least 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027.
A subscriber can account for more than one subscription. The subscriber metric, which will be included in The Times’ next earnings report, reflects the company’s desire to market several digital subscription packages as a one-stop shop for not only news but also other entertainment and necessities.
Meredith Kopit Levien, president and CEO of the company, said in a statement that The Times executives believe there are “at least 135 million” potential subscribers in the United States and worldwide – adults “who pay or are willing to pay for one or more people”. Subscriptions to news, sports, puzzles, recipes or expert shopping advice.”
The Times set its previous goal of 10 million subscriptions by 2025, when it hit 4.3 million three years ago. As subscriptions to The Times’ core digital news app continue to soar, and Games and Cooking each amass more than a million subscriptions, it turns out that the company will beat the target early.
Then, last month, The Times said it would buy The Athletic, whose 400 journalists cover more than 200 sports teams in the United States, England and Europe, in an all-cash deal worth $550 million. The Times said Wednesday that the deal was funded with “cash on hand,” that is, without borrowing money.
In addition to closing The Athletic, The Times he said he got it this week viral online puzzle wordIt will be added to the Games app (and remain free, at least initially).
For the fourth quarter of 2021, the company reported adjusted operating profit of $109.3 million, up 12 percent, and revenue of $594.2 million, up 16.7 percent. Operating costs increased by roughly the same rate to $500.1 million. Subscription revenue rose 11.1% to $351.2 million.
Revenue for the year increased 16.3 percent to $2.1 billion, making 2021 The Times’ first $2 billion year since 2012. Operating costs rose 12.2 percent to $1.8 billion. While subscription revenue rose 13.9 percent to $1.4 billion, the year also saw revenue rise to $497.5 million, up 26.8 percent from 2020, 6.2 percent less in 2019 than before the pandemic. represented a rebound for advertising.
The company said it expects subscription revenue to increase 11 to 15 percent in the current quarter, which spans two months with The Athletic as part of the company. The Times added that it expects digital subscription revenue to increase 23 to 28 percent and ad revenue to increase 17 to 21 percent. The company said costs will rise between 18 and 22 percent.
The company said its board of directors increased the 2-cents-per-share dividend rate to 9 cents and authorized $150 million in share repurchases. While the repurchase will only affect Class A shares that are publicly traded, dividends will apply to both these shares and Class B shares owned by the Ochs-Sulzberger family, which controls The Times.
[ad_2]
Source link