The New York Times Company is an American mass-media company that publishes The New York Times and its associated publications and other media properties. Its headquarters are in Manhattan, New York City.[5]
History
The company was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond and George Jones in New York City. The first edition of the newspaper The New York Times, published on September 18, 1851, stated: "We publish today the first issue of the New-York Daily Times, and we intend to issue it every morning (Sundays excepted) for an indefinite number of years to come."[6]
The company moved into the cable channel industry, purchasing a 40% interest in the Popcorn Channel, a theatrical movie preview and local movie times, in November 1994.[7] In 1996, it expanded upon its broadcasting by purchasing Palmer Communications, owners of WHO-DT in Des Moines and KFOR in Oklahoma City.[8]
On March 18, 2005, the company acquired About.com, an online provider of consumer information, for US$410 million.[10] In 2005, the company reported revenues of US$3.4 billion to its investors.[11]
The Times, on August 25, 2006, acquired Baseline StudioSystems, an online database and research service on the film and television industries for US$35 million.[12]
The company announced on September 12, 2006, its decision to sell its Broadcast Media Group, consisting of "nine network-affiliated television stations, their related Web sites and the digital operating center".[13]The New York Times reported on January 4, 2007, that the company had reached an agreement to sell all nine local television stations to the private equity firm Oak Hill Capital Partners, which then created a holding company for the stations, Local TV LLC.[14][15] The company announced that it had finalized the sale of its Broadcast Media Group on May 7, 2007, for "approximately $575 million".[15]
On May 7, 2007, the company announced that its About.com web information service was acquiring Consumersearch.com, a Web site that compiles reviews of consumer products, for $33 million in cash.[16]
On July 14, 2009, the company announced that WQXR was to be sold to WNYC, which moved the station to 105.9 FM and began to operate the station noncommercially on October 8, 2009. This US$45 million transaction, which involved Univision Radio's WCAA moving to the 96.3 FM frequency from 105.9 FM, ended the Times' 65-year-long ownership of the station.[18]
Facing falling revenue from print advertising in its flagship publication in 2011, The New York Times, the company introduced a paywall to its website. As of 2012, it had been modestly successful, garnering several hundred thousand subscriptions and about $100 million in annual revenue.[20]
In 2013, the New York Times Company sold The Boston Globe and other New England media properties to John W. Henry, the principal owner of the Boston Red Sox. According to the Times Company, the move was made in order to focus more on its core brands.[21][22]
After forming an editorial partnership with the New York Times in 2015,[23] The Wirecutter was acquired by the Times in October 2016 for a reported $30 million.
In March 2020, the New York Times Company acquired subscription-based audio app, Audm.[24]
In February 2022, the New York Times Company bought The Athletic, a subscription-based sports news website, for $550 million.[27] Its founders, Alex Mather and Adam Hansmann, stayed with the publication, which is run separately from the Times.[28] Later that month, it acquired Wordle, an Internet word puzzle game that grew from 90 players in October 2021 to millions at the time of purchase.[29]
ValueAct Capital took a stake in the company in August 2022.[30] ValueAct aims to encourage the company to more actively pursue the sale of "bundled" subscriptions to its various offerings.[30]
Radio stations
The paper bought AM radio station WQXR (1560kHz) in 1944.[31] Its "sister" FM station, WQXQ, became WQXR-FM (96.3MHz). Branded as "The Stereo Stations of The New York Times", its classical musicradio format was simulcast on both the AM & FM frequencies until December 1992, when the big-band and pop standards music format of station WNEW (1130kHz – now WBBR/"Bloomberg Radio") was transferred to and adopted by WQXR; in recognition of the format change, WQXR changed its call letters to WQEW (a "hybrid" combination of "WQXR" and "WNEW").[32] By 1999, The New York Times was leasing WQEW to ABC Radio for its "Radio Disney" format.[33] In 2007, WQEW was finally purchased by Disney; in late 2014, it was sold to Family Radio (a religious radio network) and became WFME.[34] In 2009, WQXR-FM was sold to the WNYC radio group and, on October 8, moved from 96.3 to 105.9MHz (swapping frequencies with Spanish-language station WXNY-FM, which wanted the more powerful transmitter to increase its coverage) and began operating it as a noncommercial, public radio station.[35]
Alongside its namesake newspaper, the company owns The New York Times International Edition and related digital properties including NYTimes.com, as well as various brand-related properties.[36]
Ownership and leadership
Since September 25, 1997, the company has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol NYT. From April 27, 1967, until January 13, 1969, the company's Class A common stock traded over the counter. From January 14, 1969, until September 24, 1997, the shares were traded on the American Stock Exchange.[37] Of the two categories of stock, Class A and Class B, the former is publicly traded and the latter is held privately—largely (over 90% through The 1997 Trust) by the descendants of Adolph Ochs, who purchased The New York Times newspaper in 1896.[38]
Carlos Slim loan and investment
On January 20, 2009, The New York Times reported that its parent company, the New York Times Company, had reached an agreement to borrow $250million from Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim, "to help the newspaper company finance its businesses".[39] The New York Times Company later repaid that loan ahead of schedule.[40] Since then, Slim has bought large quantities of the company's Class A shares, which are available for purchase by the public and offer less control over the company than Class B shares, which are privately held.[40] Slim's investments in the company included large purchases of Class A shares in 2011, when he increased his stake in the company to 8.1% of Class A shares,[41] and again in 2015, when he exercised stock options—acquired as part of a repayment plan on the 2009 loan—to purchase 15.9million Class A shares, making him the largest shareholder.[40][42] As of March 7, 2016, Slim owned 17.4% of the company's Class A shares, according to annual filings submitted by the company.[43][44] While Slim is the largest shareholder in the company, his investment only allows him to vote for Class A directors, a third of the company's board.[40]
Margot Golden Tishler, chair of the Ochs-Sulzberger Trust
Rebecca Van Dyck, former COO for Reality Labs at Meta Platforms
Community awards
The company sponsors a series of national and local awards designed to highlight the achievements of individuals and organizations in different realms.
In 2007, it inaugurated its first Nonprofit Excellence Award, awarded to four organizations "for the excellence of their management practices". Only nonprofits in New York City, Long Island, or Westchester were eligible.[46]
Jointly with the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the American Library Association, the New York Times Company sponsors an award to honor librarians "for service to their communities". The I Love My Librarian! award was given to ten recipients in December 2008, and presented by the New York Times Company president and CEO Janet L. Robinson, Carnegie Corporation president Vartan Gregorian, and Jim Rettig, president of the American Library Association. The award has been given to ten exceptional librarians annually since that date.[47]
In May 2009, the company launched The New York Times Outstanding Playwright Award to honor an American playwright who had recently had his or her professional debut in New York.[48] The first winner was Tarell Alvin McCraney for his play "The Brothers Size".[49] In 2010, Dan LeFranc won for his play "Sixty Miles to Silver Lake".[50]
^Kirkpatrick, David D. (January 2, 2003). "International Herald Tribune Now Run Solely by The Times". The New York Times. Retrieved August 29, 2008. The International Herald Tribune, descendant of an American paper first published in Paris in 1887, is appearing today for the first time under the sole ownership and management of the New York Times Company. The takeover ends an anomalous 35-year partnership between The Times and its domestic competitor The Washington Post that produced a journalistic hybrid consisting mainly of articles and editorials from both papers compiled by editors in Paris. In October, The Times reached an agreement to buy The Post's 50 percent stake in the venture for about $70 million -- in part, The Post said, by threatening to start a rival paper overseas.
^ ab"The New York Times Company Reports April Revenues" (Press release). The New York Times Company. May 17, 2007. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved August 23, 2008. On May 7, 2007, the Company sold the Broadcast Media Group, consisting of nine network-affiliated television stations, their related Web sites and the digital operating center, for approximately $575 million.
^"Business Units". The New York Times Company. Archived from the original on August 30, 2008. Retrieved August 29, 2008. The New York Times Company, a leading media company with 2007 revenues of $3.2 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other daily newspapers, WQXR-FM, and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com, and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting, and distributing high-quality news, information, and entertainment.