New York Times subscribers cross 13 million on news, lifestyle content demand

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May 6, 2026 7:11 AM EDT

FILE PHOTO: The New York Times building in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., September 16, 2025. U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times and book publisher Penguin Random House. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper

May 6 (Reuters) - New York Times ‌subscribers jumped to ​13.1 ​million in the first quarter as its blend of news and lifestyle content attracted readers navigating a volatile political and economic landscape, ‌sending the company's shares up 8% in early trading.

The newspaper added ⁠310,000 digital-only subscribers in the first three months of the year, outpacing analysts' expectation of 270,513, ‌according to Visible Alpha. This brings ‌it closer to its goal of hitting 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027.

Heightened geopolitical tension, including ongoing wars and shifting U.S. policies, has ​driven a rise in news consumption, driving more readers to the New York Times' digital platforms.

To attract subscribers, the Times has, in recent years, bundled ⁠its core news with games, sports and lifestyle content to broaden appeal and improve retention.

The results comes days ​after NYT won three Pulitzer prizes, including for its investigative stories on the Trump administration.

Publishers globally are grappling with declining referral ​traffic from search engines that are increasingly using ‌AI to answer queries directly, reducing visits to news websites.

Still, the Times' efforts to boost its advertising appeal by expanding video ⁠offerings on its flagship app have helped weather that impact. "We're continuing to scale output here and more than doubled production of reporter video," CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said.

NYT's digital‑only ⁠average revenue per user rose 2.4% to $9.77, reflecting subscribers' transition to higher prices from discounted plans ​as well as the impact of recent price increases, Chief Financial Officer William Bardeen said.

The company's digital-only subscription revenue grew 16.1% in the first quarter, above Visible Alpha estimates of 15%.

Digital ‌ad revenues, meanwhile, jumped 31.6% to $93.3 million.

Overall, the Times posted revenue of $712.2 million, topping expectations of $699.9 million, according to LSEG. ‌Adjusted profit was 61 cents per share, beating estimates of 47 cents.

In the second ⁠quarter, NYT said it expects digital-only ‌subscription revenue to grow ​between 14% and 17%, while analysts expected 13.8%, according to Visible Alpha.

(Reporting by Kritika Lamba and Aditya Soni in Bengaluru; Editing by ‌Shinjini Ganguli)


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