Earnings: NYTCO: Search Talks; Google Experiment; Closing The Gap

NYTCO’s deal with Google expires at the end of October and the company is exploring a number of options, including renegotiating that deal, Martin Nisenholtz, SVP-Digital, said during the Wednesday earnings call. (Earnings coverage here.) NYTCO is one of Google’s largest customers and is also taking part in the print inventory experiment. The company has also held discussions about the Yahoo-newspaper consortium and other potential partnerships. “At this point, we have not taken a pass” on the Yahoo option, he said, adding, “We are still evaluating the various options on the table. But what I’m trying to say to you is that as the ninth largest property on the Internet, we have a very different posture online than many of our peers, and therefore, the negotiation that might take place with these companies is much more substantive.”
He said the paper has had a “good acceptance rate” and a “nice small revenue stream” from the Google test: “It is about to be expanded to a larger test group and full fledged data, so it is one step at a time, both Google and the New York Times are pleased with the results.”
Some others items of interest courtesy of SeekingAlpha’s transcript:
New product revenue: CEO Janet Robinson: “In all, new products and services generated substantial revenues, approximately $30 million, as well as additional earnings in 2006. … Our research and development group in its first full year of operation worked closely with our business group, to build revenues through new mobile products at the Times, the Globe, and Gainesville; and a local search product at Boston.com, which is capturing fast growing local online advertising.”
Other revenues: The acquisition of Baseline Studio Systems contributed most of the Times Media Group’s 10 percent revenue increase.
About.com: In the first full year of ownership, operating margin expanded to 38 percent, up from 27 percent for the period in 2005 in which we owned it.
Digital: As of December 2006, the Times properties were the ninth most visited parent company on the web in the United States with 44.2 million monthly uniques, according to NielsenNetRatings. Robinson referring to the company’s digital revenues and growth projections: “I think it shows that our company is making this transition very quickly, with certainly more growth to come going forward.”
— On the regional side, strong activity in real estate classifieds online.
Difference between print subs and online users: Robinson, responding to a question: “… There is a marked difference between a print subscriber or a print advertising rate and an online advertising rate. But as we grow volume on the digital side, we are continuing to see the opportunity not only to gain in revenue, but also to see some very strong opportunities in regard to increasing the rate structure.” Nisenholtz: “To Janet’s earlier point, we expect to see, over time, the gap close.”
Digital revenue mix: In 2006, very diverse, said Nisenholtz: 45 percent from display, 15 percent cost per click, 24 percent classifieds, 5 percent paid products like TimesSelect, 1 percent from e-commerce., 8 percent syndication, 1 percent Baseline, 1 percent others.

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