It has only attached advertising to some of its web video,
though. Video reports on certain breaking news events -- such as
events surrounding the Boston bombing and the selection of the new
pope -- have largely been off limits to advertisers, the company
said.
The Times began offering unlimited access to video during the
second quarter, allowing viewers to avoid its metered pay wall.
"The appetite, specifically from advertisers, for opportunities
to do video advertising on The New York Times is so great that we
think the chance we have to grow our share of the video ad market
is large indeed, even if rates over time, come down," said Mark
Thompson, president and CEO of the Times Co., during the earnings
call.
New revenue efforts
The Times Co. is facing an industry-wide ad slump as businesses
shift their marketing budgets online, where the inventory is wide
and programmatic buying pushes down ad rates -- a point the Times'
executives acknowledged Thursday. Although increases in the number
of digital subscribers has helped offset some of these declines,
they haven't grown quickly enough.
Digital subscriptions to The New York Times, The International
Herald Tribune and the Boston Globe increased 5.1% to 738,000 in
the second quarter compared to a year earlier.
Overall revenue slipped nearly 1% to $485.4 million from $489.8
million in the second quarter of 2012. Excluding some items,
profits were 14 cents a share, beating analysts expectations of 13
cents a share, according to Bloomberg.
The Times has outlined or introduced several efforts to help
generate revenue. New
paid (and mostly cheaper) products are slated for release in
early 2014. The Times also
introduced standardized rich-media ad units for its iPad apps,
which it sells at a premium price. And several brand extensions --
including a games business associated with the paper's crossword
puzzle, e-commerce and a growing conference business -- are also in
the works, the company said.
But video appears to be the surest way for the Times to capture
more ad dollars in the near term.
"They've got the advertising relationships and the demand," said
Ken Doctor, an analyst. "They need the inventory."
"That is money they can bring in before the introduction of the
new paid products," he added.
Developing and monetizing video has fallen on Rebecca Howard,
who the Times hired from Aol to serve as general manager of video
in February. Ms. Howard reports to Jill Abramson, the Times'
executive editor, and to Denise Warren, the executive vice
president of digital products.
Last month, the Times also hired Meredith Kopit Levien from
Forbes to serve as head of
advertising. She's scheduled to start next week.
"We are very keen to improve the performance of The New York
Times Co. in digital advertising," Mr. Thompson said on the call.
"And I actually do not think that we should be satisfied with a
continued contraction of digital advertising revenue. We're looking
for solutions, and that's an area where we want to restore to
growth."
