Newspaper & Mailroom

The New York Times Company Reports August Revenues

Friday 19. September 2008 - The New York Times Company announced today that in August total Company revenues from continuing operations decreased 8.8% compared with the same month a year ago. Advertising revenues decreased 14.1% and circulation revenues increased 0.9%.

All comparisons are for August 2008 to August 2007 unless otherwise noted:
News Media Group
Advertising revenues for the News Media Group decreased 15.9% mainly because of weakness in print advertising.
The New York Times Media Group – Advertising revenues for The New York Times Media Group decreased 15.1%. National advertising revenues decreased as weakness in the technology, studio entertainment, hotel and telecommunications categories offset growth in financial services, American fashion, advocacy and healthcare advertising. Retail advertising revenues decreased mainly due to softness in fashion jewelry, mass market and fine arts advertising. Classified advertising revenues were down because of weakness in help-wanted, real estate and automotive advertising.
New England Media Group – Advertising revenues for the New England Media Group decreased 16.4%. National advertising revenues were lower mainly because of decreases in national automotive, technology, travel and radio/TV advertising. Retail advertising revenues decreased primarily due to weakness in the home improvement, department store and food/drug categories. Classified advertising revenues decreased due to softness in help-wanted, real estate and automotive advertising.
Regional Media Group – Advertising revenues for the Regional Media Group decreased 17.5%. Retail advertising revenues were down mainly because of decreases in the home furnishings, home improvement and telecommunications categories. Classified advertising revenues decreased due to weakness in real estate, help-wanted and automotive advertising.
Internet advertising revenues included in the News Media Group increased 7.9% as growth in display advertising was partially offset by weakness in online recruitment advertising, particularly in the later part of the month.
Circulation revenues for the News Media Group were up 0.9%. Revenues increased at The New York Times and Regional Media Groups, and decreased at the New England Media Group. In July 2008, The New York Times announced that home-delivery prices would increase an average of 4.5% upon the subscriber’s renewal date and for new subscribers. Effective August 18, the daily newsstand price of The Times increased from $1.25 to $1.50.
About Group
Advertising revenues at the About Group (which includes the Web sites of About.com, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com) rose 16.1% due to growth in both cost-per-click and display advertising.
Other Data
Internet Businesses: Total Internet revenues grew 6.0% and Internet advertising revenues increased 10.9% in August. Internet businesses include NYTimes.com, About.com, Boston.com and other Company Web sites. In total, Internet businesses accounted for 12.7% of total revenues in August versus 11.0% in August 2007.
In addition, The New York Times Company had the 12th largest presence on the Web, with 48.8 million unique visitors in the United States in August 2008 according to Nielsen Online, up approximately 10% from 44.2 million unique visitors in August 2007. Also according to Nielsen Online, NYTimes.com had 19.9 million unique visitors in August versus 13.1 million in August 2007, up about 52%, and was the No. 1 newspaper Web site in the United States, a position it has long held.
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2007 revenues of $3.2 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other daily newspapers, WQXR-FM and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company’s core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.