As newspaper ad revenue was devoured by Facebook and long-form journalism’s audience shrank at the same rate our attention spans did — The New York Times had to adapt. After 170 years of ink and paper, NYT is no longer a newspaper, it's a full-on multi-media company that's perfected the art of repackaging and is playing every content channel to perfection, including:
TV Shows: NYT reportedly has 10 scripted shows in development, including a limited series for Amazon. Its Modern Love column got turned into a Prime Video show and a podcast. Its weekly news show streams on Hulu and FX in the US.
Documentaries: NYT has three features slated for this year, including one for Netflix. It also premiered two feature-length docs at Sundance (very cool).
Audio: NYT's The Daily is a Top 5 podcast on Apple and Spotify. 1619 Project, its chart-topping pod on slavery, is being brought to film/TV (thanks to Lionsgate/Oprah).
Tech: NYT acquired Audm, an app that turns articles into audio.
The New York Times' core product isn’t articles... It’s stories. And the management there recognise that. NYT is leveraging its intellectual property by licensing deals left and right. That's how it was able to rise from the newspaper ashes of ad-pocalypse and be born again just as successfully across entirely new non-print media channels.
THE TAKEAWAY
It’s not enough to be a one-trick content pony anymore. New mediums are key to reaching new audiences. Most people no longer have the attention span for long-form journalism, so meet your audience where they are.
The New York Times can reach theirs with the same content by repackaging it into a TV show or podcast. It's easier to attract people with this 'off-platform' journalism. Distribution is just as important: NYT’s goal is to have 10 million digital subs by 2025. Partnering with big shots like Netflix and Amazon is key to driving top-of-funnel growth.
And speaking of repackaging, have you heard of the Hero|Hub|Hygiene content model? It's a great way to build equity in content, here's my quick guide to it
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