{"id":19459,"date":"2016-11-18T16:43:10","date_gmt":"2016-11-18T21:43:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/the-new-york-times-from-print-to-digital\/"},"modified":"2016-11-18T16:43:10","modified_gmt":"2016-11-18T21:43:10","slug":"the-new-york-times-from-print-to-digital","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/the-new-york-times-from-print-to-digital\/","title":{"rendered":"The New York Times – from Print to Digital"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overview<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cOur organization was built for the print era and now must be redesigned for the mobile era.\u201d <\/em>\u2013 The New York Times. (1)<\/p>\n

Digital transformation has had a dramatic effect on the newspaper industry, including The New York Times (\u201cNYT\u201d). With news moving from print to online, the industry has experienced a shift in reader behavior that has impacted both their business and operating models. Many newspapers groups, like Tribune Company, have failed and filed for bankruptcy. (2)<\/p>\n

NYT\u2019s financials illustrate the impact of digitization. In 3Q 2016, print advertising revenue fell 19% and overall advertising revenue fell 8%. Print advertising fell 14% the previous quarter. However, digital advertising revenue (36% of total advertising revenue) increased 21% in 3Q 2016. (3)<\/p>\n

Business Model <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Historically, NYT and other print newspapers were the primary sources of up-to-date information. Newspapers not only offered content on a timely basis but also provided analysis of the day\u2019s ihot topics. Reporters relied on long-term relationships to scoop news, which publishers produced using printing machinery.<\/p>\n

NYT generated revenue from print subscriptions as well as print advertising. By delivering the \u201cbest journalism\u201d and touting a wide subscription base, NYT attracted advertisers seeking a wide audience.<\/p>\n

However, with the Internet, information has become a commodity. Anyone can post a video to YouTube or share a blogpost. Further, readers have come to expect a constant stream of news on multiple digital platforms. And these same readers have set up ad blockers to the dismay of advertisers.<\/p>\n

And so it\u2019s no longer enough for NYT to provide print news. Instead, NYT provides up-to-date digital briefings, live blogging, and sophisticated analytics to appeal to readers. Teams in graphics, interactive news, digital design, CMS and technology have been hired to provide dynamic news in a digital format. Journalists and editors have been trained to use Google analytics and other tools to gauge what readers want (1).<\/p>\n

NYT has also merged business and journalism to remain attractive to advertisers. It now provides sponsored content. NYT looks to further commercialize content by creating and identifying editorial projects that can be sponsored. To do this, NYT created a new role for Trish Hall (formerly deputy editorial editor) to work with both editorial and business teams. (4)<\/p>\n

Operating Model <\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

Newspapers used to deliver news and generate revenue through physical print. However, with the Internet and smart phones in particular, news is now consumed online on a real time basis on multiple digital platforms. Many readers no longer even go to the newspaper\u2019s website. Instead, content is discovered through news aggregators such as blogs and Twitter.<\/p>\n

NYT has go online and offers different levels of digital and print access. Over the years, the newspaper has experimented with various pay scales such as a free app, a number of free articles per month, and different pricing tiers based on level of access (i.e. smart phone access only, web access only, print and all digital access). NYT has further responded to digitization by changing the type of content it offers online. Content has expanded from just text to video and live events. To push out this content, NYT has invested in accommodating different digital mediums such as smartphones and Apple watches (1).<\/p>\n

NYT has also realized that distribution is not limited to its own channels but a network of other news sources. As a result, NY has been leveraging other platforms such as Facebook instant articles, Apple news, and Snapchat. (1)<\/p>\n

What Next?<\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

For NYT to remain competitive in an age of digital transformation, it must adapt to what readers and advertisers want.<\/p>\n