The New York Times (NYT) had its worst month to date in November, with advertising revenue dropping a harrowing 21%. This is by far the largest drop on record, and the collapse is now hammering all of the company's properties, including the web site and About.com.
The New York Times's business is collapsing, and its cash situation is dire. Despite recent moves to improve its liquidity, the company is rapidly running out of time.
See Also:
How Much Cash The NYT Needs To Survive
NYT: November Horrible, We Need Cash
The New York Times Company announced today that in November total Company revenues from continuing operations decreased 13.9% compared with the same month a year ago. Advertising revenues decreased 20.9% and circulation revenues increased 4.2%.
All comparisons are for November 2008 to November 2007 unless otherwise noted:
News Media Group
Advertising revenues for the News Media Group declined 21.8%.
The New York Times Media Group – Advertising revenues for The New York Times Media Group decreased 21.2%. National advertising revenues decreased as weakness in the studio entertainment, national automotive, book and financial services categories offset growth in technology, media and advocacy advertising. Retail advertising revenues declined mainly due to lower department store, mass market and fashion/jewelry advertising. Classified advertising revenues were down mainly because of weakness in real estate and help-wanted advertising.
New England Media Group – Advertising revenues for the New England Media Group decreased 23.3%. National advertising revenues were lower mainly because of decreases in the national automotive, live entertainment, financial services and travel categories. Retail advertising revenues declined primarily due to weakness in the furniture/home furnishing, jewelry/luggage, department store and home improvement categories. Classified advertising revenues were lower due to softness in real estate, automotive and help-wanted advertising.
Regional Media Group – Advertising revenues for the Regional Media Group decreased 22.2%. Retail advertising revenues were down mainly because of declines in the home furnishing, specialty store, telecommunications and home improvement categories. Classified advertising revenues decreased due to weakness in help-wanted, automotive and real estate advertising.
Internet advertising revenues included in the News Media Group decreased 4.0% as modest growth in display advertising was offset by weakness in online recruitment and real estate advertising. Year-to-date November 2008, Internet advertising revenues included in the News Media Group were up 10.9% compared with the same period in 2007.
Circulation revenues for the News Media Group grew 4.2%. Revenues increased at The New York Times, New England and Regional Media Groups.
About Group
Advertising revenues at the About Group (which includes the Web sites of About.com, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Caloriecount.about.com) decreased 3.5% as declines in display advertising offset moderate growth in cost-per-click advertising. Year-to-date November 2008, advertising revenues at the About Group increased 12.9% compared with the same period in 2007.
Other Data
Internet Businesses: Total Internet revenues decreased 2.6% and Internet advertising revenues decreased 3.8% in November. Internet businesses include NYTimes.com, About.com, Boston.com and other Company Web sites. In total, Internet businesses accounted for 12.1% of total revenues in November versus 10.7% in November 2007. Year-to-date November 2008, total Internet revenues rose 8.3% and Internet advertising revenues increased 11.6% compared with the same period in 2007. In total, Internet businesses accounted for 11.9% of total revenues for year-to-date November 2008 compared with 10.2% in the same period in 2007.
In addition, The New York Times Company had the 10th largest presence on the Web, with 55.0 million unique visitors in the United States in November 2008 according to Nielsen Online, up about 11% from 49.6 million unique visitors in November 2007. Also according to Nielsen Online, NYTimes.com had 20.9 million unique visitors in November versus 18.9 million in November 2007, up about 10%, and was the No. 1 newspaper Web site in the United States, a position it has long held.
The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT - News), 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.
