Charting Revenue: How The New York Times Makes Money

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Revenue

Charting Revenue: How The New York Times Makes Money

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When it comes to quality and accessible content, whether it be entertainment or news, consumers are often willing to pay for it.

Similar to the the precedent set by the music industry, many news outlets have also been figuring out how to transition into a paid digital monetization model. Over the past decade or so, The New York Times (NY Times)—one of the world’s most iconic and widely read news organizations—has been transforming its revenue model to fit this trend.

This chart from creator Trendline uses annual reports from the The New York Times Company to visualize how this seemingly simple transition helped the organization adapt to the digital era.

New York Times revenue in a bar chart

The New York Times’ Revenue Transition

The NY Times has always been one of the world’s most-widely circulated papers. Before the launch of its digital subscription model, it earned half its revenue from print and online advertisements.

The rest of its income came in through circulation and other avenues including licensing, referrals, commercial printing, events, and so on. But after annual revenues dropped by more than $500 million from 2006 to 2010, something had to change.

NY Revenue By YearPrint CirculationDigital SubscriptionAdvertisingOtherTotal
2003$623M$1,196M$168M$1,987M
2004$616M$1,222M$165M$2,003M
2005$616M$1,262M$157M$2,035M
2006$637M$1,269M$172M$2,078M
2007$646M$1,223M$183M$2,052M
2008$668M$1,068M$181M$1,917M
2009$683M$797M$101M$1,581M
2010$684M$780M$93M$1,557M
2011$659M$47M$756M$93M$1,555M
2012$681M$114M$712M$88M$1,595M
2013$673M$151M$667M$86M$1,577M
2014$668M$172M$662M$86M$1,588M
2015$653M$199M$639M$89M$1,580M
2016$647M$232M$581M$94M$1,554M
2017$668M$340M$559M$109M$1,676M
2018$642M$400M$558M$148M$1,748M
2019$624M$460M$531M$198M$1,813M
2020$597M$598M$392M$196M$1,783M
2021$588M$774M$498M$215M$2,075M
2022$574M$979M$523M$233M$2,308M

In 2011, the NY Times launched its new digital subscription model and put some of its online articles behind a paywall. It bet that consumers would be willing to pay for quality content.

And while it faced a rocky start, with revenue through print circulation and advertising slowly dwindling and some consumers frustrated that once-available content was now paywalled, its income through digital subscriptions began to climb.

After digital subscription revenues first launched in 2011, they totaled to $47 million of revenue in their first year. By 2022 they had climbed to $979 million and accounted for 42% of total revenue.

Why Are Readers Paying for News?

More than half of U.S. adults subscribe to the news in some format. That (perhaps surprisingly) includes around four out of 10 adults under the age of 35.

One of the main reasons cited for this was the consistency of publications in covering a variety of news topics.

And given the NY Times’ popularity, it’s no surprise that it recently ranked as the most popular news subscription.

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This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

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Revenue

Ranked: Major Media Companies, by Profit Margin

Streaming wars are taking their toll on net profit margins. Of the six major media companies in this graphic, only two beat the 10% threshold.

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This chart compares the net profit margins of six big media companies along with their annual revenue.

Ranked: Major Media Companies, by Profit Margin

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This chart compares the net profit margins of six big media companies where media and entertainment is a core business venture.

All data sourced from various company reports with the latest full-year figures. Netflix, Paramount, and Warner Bros. Discovery follow the calendar year, and figures are as of 2023.

Sony’s earnings are from their financial year ended March, 2024. Additionally, a conversion rate of $1.00 USD = ¥156.5 Yen was used to find the equivalent dollar amounts.

Meanwhile, Fox’s figures are from their financial year ended March, 2024. Finally, Walt Disney’s earnings are from their financial year which ended September, 2024.

Netflix Can Chill For Now

Netflix is head-and-shoulders above its peers when it comes to profitability. In 2023, they made 16 cents in profit for every dollar earned. This is after taxes and expenses.

RankMedia CompanyNet Profit MarginAnnual ProfitAnnual Revenue
1Netflix16.0%$5.4B$33.7B
2Fox10.7%$1.5B$14.0B
3Sony7.5%$6.3B$83.2B
4Walt Disney5.4%$5.0B$91.4B
5Paramount Global-2.1%-$608M$29.7B
6Warner Bros.
Discovery
-7.6%-$3.1B$41.3B

Fox comes closest to Netflix at 11 cents of profit per dollar of revenue earned.

However, larger media behemoths Sony and Walt Disney’s profits are between 5-8 cents for every dollar earned, though both their revenues dwarf Netflix’s.

It’s worth mentioning that both companies are more diversified: parks and experiences for Disney and gaming consoles and technology for Sony.

And the other pure play media companies like Paramount and Warner Brothers Discovery are currently losing money. Both companies have lost core business revenues as cord cutting continues, and their streaming platforms haven’t yet delivered. A proposed merger between the two companies also fell apart in February 2024.

According to Bloomberg’s reporting (previous link), Comcast was also interested in Paramount, with its CEO Brian Roberts suggesting a joint venture with the respective streaming platforms.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

For other ways of looking at profits, check out: Ranked: Top U.S. Companies, by Profit per Employee. Spoiler: No Big Tech company makes the top 10.

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