4 ms·

How does the New York Times have all this capital to spend / invest / burn, while other media companies (especially journalism) are struggling so much just to k

How does the New York Times have all this capital to spend / invest / burn, while other media companies (especially journalism) are struggling so much just to keep their lights on?

vmception 5y ago
Being publicly traded with a sticky subscription model helps. NY Times is also part of AMEX's digital entertainment credit, so subscribers print revenue that AMEX reimburses them behind the scenes. NY Times gets to print high revenue numbers anyway, and the public markets trade that a multiple. So NY Times has access to capital to occasionally make a 7 figure purchase. Media properties struggle to find something for a growth strategy but they have access to capital, they just don't expect to continue to have access to capital which makes them have to cut things earlier, expecting gloom and doom.
tptacek 5y ago
Because local media is ad-dependent and the NYT makes most of its money on paid subscriptions. Media companies have been trying to pivot to paid subscriptions, but the NYT has for over a decade been premised on paid subscriptions online, during a time period where competing media companies hoped to stay free to subscribers based on ad revenue; they've managed to build a business that is essential enough that 8 million people subscribe to it, including during a long stretch of time where the modal media business strategy was "monetize eyeballs".
colinmhayes 5y ago
NYT did very well under Trump. Basically local news is worthless since no one pays for it since it's expected to be free and seen as "low brow". People don't mind paying to keep democracy strong which is what NYT paints themselves as doing.
United857 5y ago
IMO, New York is probably the first city most people associate America with, so they've been able to build a global media brand vs your local small town newspaper.

4 ms·

How does the New York Times have all this capital to spend / invest / burn, while other media companies (especially journalism) are struggling so much just to k

by rexreed 5y ago

How does the New York Times have all this capital to spend / invest / burn, while other media companies (especially journalism) are struggling so much just to keep their lights on?

vmception 5y ago
Being publicly traded with a sticky subscription model helps. NY Times is also part of AMEX's digital entertainment credit, so subscribers print revenue that AMEX reimburses them behind the scenes. NY Times gets to print high revenue numbers anyway, and the public markets trade that a multiple. So NY Times has access to capital to occasionally make a 7 figure purchase. Media properties struggle to find something for a growth strategy but they have access to capital, they just don't expect to continue to have access to capital which makes them have to cut things earlier, expecting gloom and doom.
tptacek 5y ago
Because local media is ad-dependent and the NYT makes most of its money on paid subscriptions. Media companies have been trying to pivot to paid subscriptions, but the NYT has for over a decade been premised on paid subscriptions online, during a time period where competing media companies hoped to stay free to subscribers based on ad revenue; they've managed to build a business that is essential enough that 8 million people subscribe to it, including during a long stretch of time where the modal media business strategy was "monetize eyeballs".
colinmhayes 5y ago
NYT did very well under Trump. Basically local news is worthless since no one pays for it since it's expected to be free and seen as "low brow". People don't mind paying to keep democracy strong which is what NYT paints themselves as doing.
United857 5y ago
IMO, New York is probably the first city most people associate America with, so they've been able to build a global media brand vs your local small town newspaper.