Opinion | Why does the New York Times prosper while Gannett struggles? Here are four reasons
Where Gannett has spread itself too thin, the Times has found overwhelming success with its longstanding digital-focused plan
Thursday morning, Gannett, whose holdings include USA Today and more than 200 regional outlets, reported digital gains of its own – 120,000 more paid digital-only subscribers than the previous quarter. But it posted an operating loss of $54 million. Wall Street responded by taking the value of Gannett’s already battered stock down by roughly a quarter Thursday and Friday.
The companies are roughly the same size – Gannett actually somewhat larger with $749 million in revenues for the second quarter compared to the Times’ $556 million. So why the diverging fortunes?
Of course the Times has a national and international market, reachable by readers in digital format with no paper or delivery expense. CEO Meredith Kopit Levien likes to say that the Times “addressable” market of English speakers totals 135 million. https://www.poynter.org/commentary/2022/why-does-the-new-york-times-prosper-while-gannett-struggles-here-are-four-reasons/
Great points. Also remember: The hedge fund that runs Gatehouse/Gannett is focused on securing advertising revenue-not serving the communities where the publications operate. Prospective readers turn to other sources for their local news because the local Gatehouse/Gannett operation is not serving the community as it had under a past owner or owners. It is only a matter of time before Gatehouse/Gannett starts selling off some of the properties it has acquired in the past decade because the advertising has dried up due to a lack of readership.