All the Times that's fit to sell (Dinosaur Media DeathWatch)

CNNMoney.com ^ | June 21, 2006 | Paul R. La Monica

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The New York Times Co. has lots of history, but its future isn't promising. Now might be time to succumb to the publishing industry's urge to merge.

The Gray Lady needs to get hitched soon, or else she might wind up an old maid.

That's right, the venerable New York Times Co., which also owns the Boston Globe and International Herald Tribune, would be wise to succumb to the urge to merge in the rapidly consolidating newspaper business.

Let's face it, Wall Street is not overly confident about the company's growth prospects. Sure, the entire newspaper industry has taken a tumble due to concerns about how more and more readers (and advertisers) are shunning ink for online publications.

But shares of the New York Times (Charts) have underperformed its peers, falling 11.5 percent this year and 27 percent in the past 12 months, compared to a 3.5 percent drop in 2006 for the S&P Publishing index and 8 percent decline during the past 12 months.

Yes, the company has been touting its online offerings such as its premium tier TimesSelect service and Web guide About.com as successes that are driving growth.

During a presentation Tuesday at the Newspaper Association of America's 2006 Mid-Year Media Review Conference, New York Times chief executive officer Janet Robinson stressed that digital revenue now accounts for 7.5 percent of the company's total sales, and that Internet ad revenue increased 24 percent through May.

Robinson was particularly proud of the fact that TimesSelect, which requires readers to pay to view certain stories from top Times columnists, was doing well. "Conventional wisdom in the industry was that consumers would not pay for content that previously they got for free," she said.

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Thursday Morning Good News

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Ping

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Two year performance of NYT versus the DJI average (closing in on -50% against the market):

[george76]

"TimesSelect is doing well."

What a joke !

[Clioman]

"TimesSelect is doing well."

I rarely read Krugman and Dowd when they were free. Why would I want to PAY to read them?

[Milhous]

TimesSelect is doing well.

Sounds like yet another incredible fishwrap tall tale.

[Grampa Dave]

Thanks for the chart. I like this chart which compares the NYT Slimes with the evil Haliburton - Hal, and MDY, the EFT index fund for Mid Caps which is the stock category for the Slimes.

[george76]

NY Slimes is still at it.

Fake paid circulation numbers to try to justify high ad rates to increase Pinch's bonus...

[cake_crumb]

Gee whiz, 7.5% huh? Wow, the Times isn't having financial problems at all </sarcasm

[george76]

I do not know anyone who would pay to read these fools.

Is their anyone here who pays from their own pocket to read these fools ?

[Milhous]

Fake paid circulation numbers to try to justify high ad rates to increase Pinch's bonus...

Megalomaniac marquee name Journalists^TM can also hide behind TimesSelect to protect precious ego from those mean ole FReepers.

[joylyn]

It has always amazed me that the Times could find no way to leverage its classified ad business into a major online presence. Instead, it focused on selling content -- a consistently losing strategy, at least for now.

[weegee]

The Gray Lady needs to get hitched soon... "tis a pity she's a whore"

[frithguild]

Management is employing desperate measures to bolster the stock price. Right now they are using talk of a merger to induce a short squeeze. Short Interest - those holding shares short expecting a decreasing share price - has been rising.

Settlement Date	Short int.	day/vol.	Days to cover
May 15, 2006	14,933,818	1,136,711	13.14
Apr. 13, 2006	14,624,923	1,022,043	14.31
Mar. 15, 2006	13,949,187	815,363	17.11
Feb. 15, 2006	11,423,153	1,148,186	9.95
Jan. 13, 2006	10,664,098	1,402,768	7.60

[potlatch]

Thanks for the ping abb.

[potlatch]

Sorry for the Cynthia post, I got it mixed up with another ping, lol!