The New York Times stays close to readers with e-mail
As with most publishing outfits, 2001 has been a brutal year for New York Times Digital (NYTD). The online division of the venerable newspaper company has laid off 116 people so far this year.
One shining spot for the digital unit continues to be its e-mail programs. At a time when publishers and other marketers are still feeling their way in terms of using e-mail, the Times is a leader, with expertly turned out products. NYTimes.com has 1.8 million subscribers to some form of e-mail, and sends out about 20 million e-mails a week.
NYTD needs such shining spots. Despite the economic downturn, the unit is sticking to its goal to turn a profit by the end of next year. It hopes its e-mail program will contribute to that positive bottom line.
The digital unit’s cornerstone site is NYTimes.com, with 15 million registered users. Launched in January 1996, it is the top newspaper site, with 4.1 million unique visitors in March, followed by USAToday.com and WashingtonPost.com, according to Media Metrix.
NYTimes.com’s flagship e-mail product is Today’s Headlines, which goes out to just over 1.6 million subscribers a day (as of May 1, as with the other subscriber figures here). It also has (mostly weekly) newsletters, permission-marketing advertising e-mail, alerts about breaking news and Inside NYTimes.com, which comes out twice a week and gives pointers about using the Web site.
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