New York Times Will End Print Edition (Eventually), Publisher Says
While speaking at a conference in London, chairman and publisher of The New York Times Arthur Sulzberger, Jr. made a major statement about the future of his publication: "We will stop printing The New York Times sometime in the future, date TBD."
He was there to talk about the changing journalistic business model and to touch on the Times' upcoming metered paywall for online content, but it was his concession about the bleak outlook for the print edition of the paper that's become the major news. Henry Blodgett, CEO of Business Insider, predicts the repercussions of suspending the printed version of the Times would have on the operation of the world's largest newsroom:
We estimate that the NYT currently spends about $200 million a year on its newsroom and generates about $150 million of online revenue. If the paywall is highly successful -- attracting, say, one million subscribers who pay $100 a year -- this will add another $100 million of online subscription revenue (assuming the company doesn't lose ad revenue). With $250 million of revenue, the NYT might be able to sustain newsroom costs of about $100 million.
Now, a $100 million newsroom budget is a HUGE newsroom budget -- one that most online publications would kill for. So the New York Times isn't going anywhere. But $100 million is also a lot less than the New York Times' current newsroom budget.
So if Arthur Sulzberger is right that the New York Times will eventually have to stop printing the print paper -- and we certainly think he is -- his company is likely to have to be restructured.
Read the full story at The Huffington Post.