The New York Times Plans Shift Of Top Podcasts Behind Paywall To Boost Revenue Amid Growing Digital Subscriber Base: Report

The New York Times NYT is reportedly planning to move its top podcasts behind a paywall, a move aimed at generating new revenue from the format.

What Happened: The New York Times intends to make most of its podcast shows accessible only through a subscription service, reported The Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.

The publisher is considering offering only the three most recent episodes of “The Daily” to nonsubscribers, and making new episodes of its “Serial” show exclusive to subscribers for an initial period. These plans are still evolving and could change.

Podcasts have proven to be a popular medium among listeners and provide news organizations with a way to expand the reach of their journalism. After years of substantial investment in podcasting and a proliferation of shows, many media companies are now strategizing the future of the format and how it can best serve their core business.

The Times is expected to gradually move more shows behind the paywall with the goal of eventually tying most, if not all, to a subscription service. It has also discussed making archives of its shows available only to subscribers, although these plans are still in flux.

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Subscribers are expected to be able to listen to the shows across podcast platforms such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts. The Times would continue to sell ads against its podcasts.

The New York Times did not immediately respond to Benzinga's request for comment.

Why It Matters: The decision to move podcasts behind a paywall comes as NYT continues to see growth in its digital subscriber base. In the first quarter, the company reported a net increase of 210,000 digital-only subscribers, bringing the total to 9.91 million. This growth was primarily driven by bundle and multiproduct subscriber additions. Overall, the company has about 10.55 million subscribers, including 640,000 print subscribers, which saw a decline of about 10%.

The Times reported sales of $594 million for the first quarter, marking a 5.9% year-over-year increase and surpassing the consensus estimate of $591.91 million.

Podcast advertising growth in the U.S. slowed last year, but revenue is expected to grow 12% this year, reaching over $2 billion. The Times has also launched its Times Audio app, featuring various podcasts and audio content from other publishers, according to the report.

Price Action: The New York Times Co. stock closed at $50.22 on Tuesday, down 1.16% for the day. In after-hours trading, the stock remained unchanged. Year to date, the stock has increased by 4.93%, according to the data from Benzinga Pro.

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This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Kaustubh Bagalkote