Print is hurting. Things aren’t looking good. Magazines, newspapers, books, you name it, the printed word is in a very shaky transition. Playboy has rebranded in a serious way and your favorite magazines and newspapers are beginning to drop left and right off the shelves. But not the classics. The classics stay alive because that’s what makes them classic. In the face of an unforeseeable future, newspapers like The New York Times are beginning to look to other markets for revenue.
In an attempt to connect and expand their following, the NYT Cooking website recently announced that ingredients from featured recipes would be available for order as a one time thing or subscription based membership.
“Our audience spends a lot of time cooking at home,” said Alice Ting, vice president of brand development, licensing and syndication for The Times. “So for us it was a natural area to investigate.”
The news giant currently has about 1.36 million paying digital subscribers to its online news and crossword products, but it certainly doesn’t hurt to hedge your bets with alternative ideas. Even with a huge number of subscribers and a profitable first quarter they still reported a drop in both print and digital advertising that same quarter.
“We wouldn’t do this if we didn’t think there was a revenue opportunity,” Ting said. “This is definitely not the last one.”
Along with food delivery the newspaper has also been running a series of adventures to places like Cuba and Iran through their “Times Journeys” travel unit. These trips are often paired with field correspondents.
Print might be hurting, but The Times will be just fine. You can expect deliveries to be heading out as early as this summer.
(Via Bloomberg)
