NYT's Hannah Yang on subscription ceilings, international markets and news bundles

Credit: Damon Winter, The New York Times

The New York Times is a world leader in the digital subscription model for good reason.

It launched its paywall in 2011 when such a move was considered risky and bold. Today, the company has 10.5m digital subscribers, 8m in the US and 2m in 233 countries and territories. It looks to have 15m by the end of 2027.

A third of its total audience is outside the US, but just a fifth pays for content. It means there are still plenty of opportunities for the US giant to reach the lofty goal. Journalism.co.uk caught up with the chief growth and customer officer, Hannah Yang, to learn more.

On the biggest markets outside the US:

English-speaking markets like the UK, Canada and Australia are The New York Times's biggest international audience. The recently published Digital News Report 2024 (DNR) by the Reuters Institute indicates that the potential market of people willing to pay for news ranges from 8 per cent (UK) to 15 per cent (Canada) to 21 per cent (Australia).

However, NYT is also focused on "curious, globally-minded news consumers", and it has invested significantly into its newsrooms in London and Seoul for this reason - 15 per cent of South Koreans are willing to pay for news.

• Listen: The New York Times' Erin McCann on managing the breaking news desk from London

South Korea is also of interest because the citizens may not trust the primary news sources on offer, says Yang, who was born in Korea before moving to the US. Markets "without much press freedom" are ones where she thinks the NYT can provide a credible source of news.

On translation tools:

A no-brainer, she continues, is to look to translation tools to reach a broader audience in their native language. However, she is not confident the technology can yet achieve the level of nuance needed to match NYT standards. But they are looking closely at this developing space.

There are other ways to reach international audiences with a language barrier in between, though. Photojournalism is one such way of making journalism more accessible to the world.

On subscription ceilings in the US:

Americans are coming around to the idea of paying for news, says Yang. The DNR finds that 22 per cent of Americans are prepared to pay for news, and is one of a few markets where most people are willing to have two news subscriptions.

There is still much growth left: NYT's audience research indicates that there are at least 135 million adults worldwide who are willing to pay for one or more subscriptions to English-language news, sports coverage, puzzles, recipes, expert shopping advice or audio journalism.

On the news bundle:

NYT aims to get half of its subscribers on the bundle subscription by the end of 2025. It is currently 43 per cent.

That includes games, like the newly introduced Connections and Wordle, which were played 4.8bn times in 2023. There is also the cooking section that attracted more than 100m people to the site and app. As for audio journalism, there are 13 shows currently in production that often reach 7m global listeners every week.

• Read more: How The New York Times harnesses the power of games

Subscribers also get access to sports publisher The Athletic which the NYT acquired two years ago for $550m to expand its coverage of major sports leagues and teams.

On trials and pricing:

Nearly half (46 per cent) of Americans are not paying full price for news subscriptions, the DNR also found. This is above the average (41 per cent) for news consumers across 20 international markets.

NYT uses introductory offers, too, to get users through the door and keep them for six to twelve months.

Here in the UK, we just received an offer for a mere £0.50p a week for a full year. Older offers have been seven days free and then £2 a month. But in some markets, like India, the price can go even lower.

A new (top) and old (bottom) introductory deal tested on the New York Times website

"It's the right way to introduce people to journalism," says Yang.

• Read more: New York Times uses machine learning to create a smarter paywall

The aim is to move the readers to full-price subscriptions upon expiry. Once an introductory offer ends, the price and deal a customer is then offered depends on user behaviour and machine learning algorithms.

The US is the highest price point at $25 a month standard for the whole bundle, above the $16 average for a US news subscription according to the DNR. 40 per cent of Americans are comfortable paying $2-10 a month for news.

On registered users:

There is a tricky balance between welcoming new readers constantly and minimising friction with the experience. That is why, in 2018, another bold decision was made to require readers to register with their email. This prompts them to sign up for a range of free newsletters and download the app via a QR code.

"We did not know what this friction would do," says Yang. Six years later, NYT has more than 150 million registered users.

"The biggest indicator of propensity to subscribe is how much time is spent and how often they visit the site and apps. If you can control that, it leads to higher conversions and more subscriptions.

"Our mission is to be as widely read as possible - it's critical for why we exist. If that group shrinks because of, say, friction, that makes it tough for our business model.

"We have optimised the balance of being able to keep audience and subscriptions growing. To grow both at the same time is an unusual story."

Clarification: details on how the New York Times uses machine learning for its dynamic paywall were updated on 28 June 2024

Free daily newsletter

If you like our news and feature articles, you can sign up to receive our free daily (Mon-Fri) email newsletter (mobile friendly).