EX-99.2 3 a5524608ex992.txt EXHIBIT 99.2 Exhibit 99.2 The New York Times Company Reports Growth in September Revenues NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 23, 2007--The New York Times Company announced today that in September total Company revenues from continuing operations increased 5.0% compared with the same month a year ago. Advertising revenues grew 5.5% and circulation revenues rose 4.1%. Advertising revenues for the News Media Group benefited from strong growth in national advertising, which rose 18.9%, and included gains in both print and online advertising. The About Group again posted strong advertising gains in the month, up 39.1%. All comparisons are for September 2007 to September 2006 unless otherwise noted: News Media Group: Advertising revenues for the News Media Group increased 4.3%. The New York Times Media Group - Advertising revenues for The New York Times Media Group increased 11.3%. National advertising revenues rose due to growth in studio entertainment, financial services, international fashion, education and hotel advertising. Retail advertising revenues decreased mainly due to softness in department store, national chain store and home furnishing store advertising. Classified advertising revenues decreased because of weakness in real estate and automotive advertising. New England Media Group - Advertising revenues for the New England Media Group decreased 3.8%. National advertising revenues increased as growth in banking and studio entertainment advertising offset softer financial services, education and telecommunications advertising. Retail advertising revenues decreased primarily due to weakness in the department store, food/drug, computer/office supply and apparel/footwear categories. Classified advertising revenues decreased because of softness in help-wanted, real estate and automotive advertising. Regional Media Group - Advertising revenues for the Regional Media Group decreased 12.2%. Retail advertising revenues were down mainly because of decreases in home furnishing, home improvement, department store and telecommunications advertising. Classified advertising revenues decreased due to continued weakness in real estate, help-wanted and automotive advertising. Overall classified advertising revenues were affected by lower real estate classified advertising. The News Media Group's real estate advertising declined 14.8% in the month, in part due to a nationwide slowdown in real estate. Excluding the real estate category, advertising revenues for the News Media Group would have increased 6.7%. Approximately two-thirds of the Regional Media Group's advertising revenues come from its Florida and California properties, which have been experiencing particular softness in real estate advertising. Internet advertising revenues included in the News Media Group rose 23.3% in September due to growth in both display and classified advertising. Circulation revenues for the News Media Group grew 4.1% in September. Revenues were up at The New York Times and Regional Media Groups, and declined at the New England Media Group. In July 2007 The New York Times raised its newsstand and home-delivery prices. Last month the Company announced that the content previously available through TimesSelect - including online access to 23 news and opinion columnists, personalization tools and access to the Times archives back to 1987 - would be available free of charge beginning Sept. 19. About Group - Advertising revenues at the About Group (which includes the Web sites of About.com, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com) rose 39.1%. September's growth was principally due to increases in both display and cost-per-click advertising. Display advertising increased primarily because of strength in the Internet, financial services and retail categories. In addition, advertising revenues reflect the acquisitions of ConsumerSearch.com in May 2007 and UCompareHealthCare.com in March 2007. Excluding these acquisitions, advertising revenues increased 29% in the month. In addition, The New York Times Company had the 10th largest presence on the Web, with 44.2 million unique visitors in the United States according to Nielsen//NetRatings, up approximately 12% from 39.4 million unique visitors in September 2006. Also according to Nielsen//NetRatings, NYTimes.com had 14.7 million unique visitors and was the No. 1 newspaper Web site in the United States, a position it has long held. The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2006 revenues of $3.3 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers, WQXR-FM and more than 30 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, Boston.com and About.com. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment. This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 2007 TOTAL COMPANY REVENUES (a) ($ 000's) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- September Year to Date ----------------------------------------------------- % % 2007 2006 Change 2007 2006 Change -------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------ Advertising Revenues News Media National $94,102 $79,116 +18.9 $662,056 $644,659 +2.7 Retail 34,748 38,893 -10.7 314,180 337,452 -6.9 Classified 39,960 43,962 -9.1 387,735 446,228 -13.1 Other Ad Revenue 5,176 4,830 +7.2 46,237 46,069 +0.4 -------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------ Total News Media Group 173,986 166,802 +4.3 1,410,208 1,474,408 -4.4 About Group(b) 7,878 5,663 +39.1 68,216 53,196 +28.2 -------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------ Total Ad Revenues from Continuing Operations 181,864 172,464 +5.5 1,478,425 1,527,604 -3.2 Circulation Revenues 70,554 67,779 +4.1 664,538 654,993 +1.5 Other Revenues(c) 21,115 20,189 +4.6 186,359 175,822 +6.0 -------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------ Total Company Revenues from Continuing Operations $273,534 $260,432 +5.0 $2,329,322 $2,358,419 -1.2 ======== ======== ====== ========== ========== ====== Discontinued Operations: Broadcast Media Group (d) 0 13,023 N/A 46,702 107,542 N/A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (a) Numbers may not add due to rounding. (b) Includes the Web sites of About.com, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com. (c) Primarily includes revenues from wholesale delivery operations, news services/syndication, digital archives, TimesSelect, Baseline Studio Systems, rental income and commercial printing. (d) On May 7, 2007, the Company sold the Broadcast Media Group, consisting of nine network-affiliated television stations, their related Web sites and the digital operating center, for approximately $575 million. THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 2007 TOTAL COMPANY REVENUES (a) ($ 000's) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Third Quarter ------------------------ % 2007 2006 Change -------- -------- ------ Advertising Revenues News Media National $212,910 $192,002 +10.9 Retail 97,191 104,874 -7.3 Classified 117,157 136,890 -14.4 Other Ad Revenue 14,423 14,250 +1.2 -------- -------- ------ Total News Media Group 441,681 448,015 -1.4 About Group(b) 23,362 17,461 +33.8 -------- -------- ------ Total Ad Revenues from Continuing Operations 465,043 465,476 -0.1 Circulation Revenues 223,420 215,007 +3.9 Other Revenues(c) 65,896 59,103 +11.5 -------- -------- ------ Total Company Revenues from Continuing Operations $754,359 $739,586 +2.0 ======== ======== ====== Discontinued Operations: Broadcast Media Group (d) 0 36,476 N/A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (a) Numbers may not add due to rounding. (b) Includes the Web sites of About.com, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com. (c) Primarily includes revenues from wholesale delivery operations, news services/syndication, digital archives, TimesSelect, Baseline Studio Systems, rental income and commercial printing. (d) On May 7, 2007, the Company sold the Broadcast Media Group, consisting of nine network-affiliated television stations, their related Web sites and the digital operating center, for approximately $575 million. THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 2007 ADVERTISING REVENUES (a) ($ 000's) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- September Year to Date ----------------------------------------------------- % % 2007 2006 Change 2007 2006 Change -------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------ News Media Group New York Times Media Group $116,753 $104,853 +11.3 $867,774 $885,509 -2.0 New England Media Group 32,577 33,854 -3.8 289,414 307,569 -5.9 Regional Media Group 24,657 28,095 -12.2 253,020 281,330 -10.1 -------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------ Total News Media Group 173,986 166,802 +4.3 1,410,208 1,474,408 -4.4 About Group (b) 7,878 5,663 +39.1 68,216 53,196 +28.2 -------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------ Total Ad Revenues from Continuing Operations $181,864 $172,464 +5.5 $1,478,425 $1,527,604 -3.2 ======== ======== ====== ========== ========== ====== Discontinued Operations: Broadcast Media Group (c) 0 12,724 N/A 45,745 105,669 N/A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (a) Numbers may not add due to rounding. (b) Includes the Web sites of About.com, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com. (c) On May 7, 2007, the Company sold the Broadcast Media Group, consisting of nine network-affiliated television stations, their related Web sites and the digital operating center, for approximately $575 million. THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 2007 ADVERTISING REVENUES (a) ($ 000's) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Third Quarter ------------------------ % 2007 2006 Change -------- -------- ------ News Media Group New York Times Media Group $271,234 $261,653 +3.7 New England Media Group 91,838 97,424 -5.7 Regional Media Group 78,609 88,938 -11.6 -------- -------- ------ Total News Media Group 441,681 448,015 -1.4 About Group (b) 23,362 17,461 +33.8 -------- -------- ------ Total Ad Revenues from Continuing Operations $465,043 $465,476 -0.1 ======== ======== ====== Discontinued Operations: Broadcast Media Group (c) 0 35,807 N/A ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (a) Numbers may not add due to rounding. (b) Includes the Web sites of About.com, ConsumerSearch.com, UCompareHealthCare.com and Calorie-Count.com. (c) On May 7, 2007, the Company sold the Broadcast Media Group, consisting of nine network-affiliated television stations, their related Web sites and the digital operating center, for approximately $575 million. THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 2007 NEWS MEDIA AD REVENUE GROWTH BY CLASSIFIED CATEGORY ---------------------------------------------------------------------- % Change % Change % Change Sept. '07 Q3 '07 YTD '07 vs. Sept. '06 vs. Q3 '06 vs. YTD '06 ------------------------------------ Help Wanted -10.7 -15.2 -12.0 Real Estate -14.8 -20.8 -18.4 Automotive -15.4 -16.7 -16.9 Other +29.0 +14.7 +10.0 ------------------------------------ Total -9.1 -14.4 -13.1 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 2007 PRINT ADVERTISING VOLUME (a) (Inches in thousands, Preprints in thousands of copies) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- September Year to Date ---------------------------------------------------------------------- % % 2007 2006 Change 2007 2006 Change ------- ------- ------ --------- --------- ------ National 209.6 190.6 +9.9 1,567.9 1,663.0 -5.7 Retail 422.8 486.3 -13.1 4,202.8 4,543.2 -7.5 Classified 558.7 724.3 -22.9 6,127.4 7,210.2 -15.0 ------- ------- ------ --------- --------- ------ Total ROP 1,191.0 1,401.3 -15.0 11,898.2 13,416.4 -11.3 ------- ------- ------ --------- --------- ------ Part Run/ Zoned 139.3 151.7 -8.2 1,250.9 1,458.5 -14.2 ------- ------- ------ --------- --------- ------ Total 1,330.3 1,553.0 -14.3 13,149.0 14,875.0 -11.6 ======= ======= ====== ========= ========= ====== Preprints 201,940 218,454 -7.6 1,994,956 2,060,764 -3.2 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (a) Advertising volume is based on preliminary internal data, which may be updated in subsequent reports and may not be indicative of advertising revenue or operating profit. Numbers may not add due to rounding. THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY 2007 PRINT ADVERTISING VOLUME (a) (Inches in thousands, Preprints in thousands of copies) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Third Quarter ---------------------------------------------------------------------- % 2007 2006 Change ------- ------- ------ National 495.3 497.0 -0.3 Retail 1,314.2 1,446.0 -9.1 Classified 1,795.6 2,350.4 -23.6 ------- ------- ------ Total ROP 3,605.1 4,293.4 -16.0 ------- ------- ------ Part Run/ Zoned 386.9 442.7 -12.6 ------- ------- ------ Total 3,992.0 4,736.2 -15.7 ======= ======= ====== Preprints 641,558 657,709 -2.5 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (a) Advertising volume is based on preliminary internal data, which may be updated in subsequent reports and may not be indicative of advertising revenue or operating profit. Numbers may not add due to rounding. CONTACT: The New York Times Company Catherine J. Mathis, 212-556-1981 mathis@nytimes.com or Paula Schwartz, 212-556-5224 paula.schwartz@nytimes.com