The New York Times’ digital-only subscription package flourished during President Donald Trump’s time in office, according to a report from Axios.
Over the past four years, the newspaper added almost 5 million subscribers for its digital page, Axios reported. Today, the NYT has about 6.7 million digital-only subscribers, showing a substantial jump throughout Trump’s tenure.
The Trump news cycle has long been noted as improving publications’ numbers around the country, but the newspaper also sought out other new ventures to help garner subscribers. It bought a podcast company and launched other subscription apps for sections like Cooking and Games, according to Axios.
Many – about one third – of new digital subscribers are going for the newspaper’s Cooking and Crosswords applications, according to the report. The NYT plans to continue making changes and is testing another new subscription service. (RELATED: NYT Newsroom Sees More Infighting As Staffers Express Outrage Over Decision Not To Fire Reporter)
The sign over the west entrance of the New York Times building at 620 Eighth Ave. April 28, 2016 in New York. (DON EMMERT/AFP via Getty Images)
In addition to a huge increase in digital-only subscribers, the NYT had a successful year with revenue, garnering almost $40 million just from podcasts, according to Axios.
“The Times, for as long it’s been around, has always been bigger than any one story,” CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said Thursday according to Axios. “If you look under the hood and how our subscribers engage, and what drives people in the path to purchase — and then ultimately, stay and be a healthy subscriber — it’s the experience of the breadth of our journalism.”
During Trump’s last year in office, the NYT reached a record when it gained 2.3 million news digital-only subscribers. Additionally, the newspaper saw its record of global readers visiting its websites almost double for election week.
“There’s no reason we can’t have two, three, four times that over time maybe, even more,” Levien declared while discussing subscription numbers, according to Axios.