New York Times Tops 10 Million Subscribers as Revenue Soars

The New York Times closed 2023 with 10.36 million subscribers, including 9.7 million who subscribe only to digital content. This information was shared with investors in the company’s year-end review.

In just the final few months of 2023, the media giant brought in 300,000 new digital-only subscribers. This increase was higher than any other quarter of the previous year. Now, it’s no surprise that digital subscriptions have become the company’s golden goose, bringing in over twice as much revenue compared to print subscriptions.

In 2023, The New York Times raked in an impressive $1.09 billion from digital subscriptions alone. This growth in numbers can no doubt be attributed to the company’s successful move from offering a news-only subscription to a bundled package. Subscribers now have access to Games, Cooking, Wirecutter, and The Athletic, along with their regular news content.

This strategy worked like a charm, as by the end of 2023, around 43% (or 4.22 million) of the digital-only subscribers had signed up for the bundle package. These figures were backed up by other budding revenue streams, too. For instance, there was a 10% surge in 2023 due to an increase in the Wirecutter affiliate referral revenues and licensing.

Also, The New York Times was successful in progressing more subscribers from promotional rates, which resulted in a growth of 3.5% in the total digital-only average revenue per user compared to the previous year.

On the flip side, The Athletic, which was acquired by The Times for $550 million in 2022, continues to lose money. However, all isn’t gloomy, as it’s now losing significantly less than before. The company saw a 31% increase in revenue in the last quarter of 2023, reducing its operating loss to $4.4 million compared to $9.6 million a year ago.

Despite these highlights, there were a few dips, too. The company didn’t meet its target for overall advertising revenue in the final quarter of 2023. The total advertising revenue fell by 8.4% to $164.1 million. The declines were reflected in both digital and print ad revenues, which fell by 3.7% and 16.2% respectively.

Even so, The New York Times is hopeful. The company expects to see a modest increase in digital ad revenues and a decrease in total ad revenue in the first quarter of 2024.