![]() The memo highlighted the Times’ work with Google to pair Google Maps with its 36 Hours travel series along with a “remarkable virtual-reality package” that’s forthcoming as ways that “add value to user experiences without confusing readers or compromising the independence of our journalism.” Last month, the Times created a new job for Trish Hall, formerly the deputy editorial page editor, to work with both the editorial and business sides of the paper to identify editorial projects that might be ripe for special sponsorships. And with the entire industry fretting of late over the rise of ad blockers, the Times said it needs to improve the quality of its ads while also offering new and different advertising and sponsorship opportunities. Though the Times acknowledged that digital subscribers are key to its future, advertising remains another significant part of its business model. It’ll begin offering free subscription trials and offer more perks to current subscribers. The Times also says it needs to make it easier to subscribe. Even though it may come with short‐term costs, we believe making our subscription offerings more intuitive will increase subscriber growth and retention, and ultimately revenue, in the long term.” “We are actively testing to find the right price and approach. “As our subscription model approaches its fifth anniversary, we know it must be updated with simplified pricing options that reflect our readers’ multiplatform lives,” the memo says. For example, since 2011, readers have been asked to pick between several device-centric subscription packages: web plus smartphone, web plus tablet, and web plus smartphone plus tablet. Now the Times is looking at other ways it can streamline its paid offerings. May 11, 2015The Times’ first attempt at a lower-priced mobile product, NYT Now, failed to attract a substantial paying audience, and last year the Times made the app free and advertising-supported. There is clearly a large audience there, but the challenge is converting them to paying subscribers. And 12 percent of the Times’ audience now accounts for 90 percent of its subscription revenue, according to Ravi Somaiya’s report on the memo in the Times. According to the memo, 40 percent of the Times’ mobile audience is under 35. Younger readers are key to the Times’ continued growth, and moving forward the paper will be ever more focused on attracting younger subscribers. Simplify subscriptions to reach younger users ![]() Here is a full version of the memo, and here are four of our takeaways. “The next million must be fought for and won over with The Times on their phones.” “Our first two million subscribers - including our more than one million newspaper subscribers - grew up with The New York Times spread out over their kitchen tables,” the Times executives said in the memo. The release of this memo follows the leak of last year’s Innovation Report, which made striking recommendations for how the paper could improve its digital reach and audience engagement. May 15, 2014The Times must focus on reaching readers on various social platforms and mobile devices while also converting them into paying subscribers, the memo said.
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