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The New York Times Co. reported a 6.1 percent rise in Q1 revenues to $439M, driven largely by a 55.8 percent surge in cash generated from events, licensing, commercial printing, rentals and retail commerce.
Subscription revenues advanced 3.9 percent to $270M, while advertising sales were flat at $125M. The “other revenues” category grew to $43.2M. Operating profit inched ahead by 1.6 percent to $34.6M.
CEO Mark Thompson said the company completed “another strong” quarter as it moves toward its goal of 10M total subscriptions by 2025.
The NYTC added 223K digital-only subs, of which 144K were for its flagship publication. Thompson noted that the Crossword digital product passed the 500K subscriber mark, making it the No. 5 pay site from a US media company.
Thompson anticipates a “low-to mid-single digit growth” in subscription revenues during the current quarter and digital-only subs increasing in the mid-teens.”
Total ad revenues are expected to be flat though digital ad revnues are expected to advance in the mid-teens.
During his conference call, Thompson said the newsroom has grown to an all-time high of 1,600 staffers. He promised to add more people in 2019.
Thompson boasted that the investigative reporting of the Times drives not only “user engagement and digital subscriptions, but also drives America’s and the world’s agenda."
He noted that The Mueller Report cited NYT coverage more than 100 times, a number greater than any other news source.
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