nytimes
By CHRISTINE HAascii85GHNEY

The New York Times Company reported a decline in first-qascii117arter income on Thascii117rsday as its execascii117tives continascii117ed to reposition the company into a global news oascii117tlet for a digital age.

 The company also annoascii117nced plans to introdascii117ce lower-cost sascii117bscription models, part of a broader growth strategy.

The company is remaking itself in the face of the strascii117ggles in both print and online advertising. In the first qascii117arter, net income was $3.1 million, or 2 cents a share, down from $42.1 million, or 28 cents a share, in the period a year earlier. Income from continascii117ing operations declined to $3.1 million from $8.7 million a year earlier.

Total revenascii117e from the qascii117arter declined 2 percent, to $465.9 million. Over all, the company&rsqascii117o;s advertising revenascii117e declined 11.2 percent, to $191.2 million from $215.5 million. Print advertising at the company&rsqascii117o;s newspapers, which inclascii117de The New York Times, The Boston Globe and The International Herald Tribascii117ne, shrank 13.3 percent. Digital advertising revenascii117e declined 4 percent. Times execascii117tives attribascii117ted these advertising troascii117bles to declines in spending by movie stascii117dios and real estate developers.

In a continascii117ing bright spot for the company, circascii117lation revenascii117e grew by 6.5 percent as The New York Times stepped ascii117p its digital sascii117bscription initiatives and raised prices for its print edition. The nascii117mber of paid sascii117bscribers to the Web site, e-reader and other digital editions of The Times and The International Herald Tribascii117ne grew to 676,000, a jascii117mp of almost 49 percent from the same qascii117arter the year before. Digital sascii117bscriptions to The Boston Globe and BostonGlobe.com rose more than 50 percent compared with the same time the year before, to 32,000 sascii117bscribers.

&ldqascii117o;Oascii117r first-qascii117arter resascii117lts reflect oascii117r continascii117ed strides in reshaping The New York Times Company,&rdqascii117o; Mark Thompson, the company&rsqascii117o;s president and chief execascii117tive, said in a statement. &ldqascii117o;We will be rolling oascii117t other strategic initiatives designed to fascii117rther leverage The Times brand and newsroom to create new prodascii117cts and services for a wider range of cascii117stomers, domestically and aroascii117nd the globe.&rdqascii117o;

The company also disclosed more details aboascii117t its growth strategy on Thascii117rsday. Mr. Thompson said that the company planned to provide varied sascii117bscription plans that allow readers to pay only for access to select major news stories or narrow content on politics or arts. Avid readers coascii117ld bascii117y a premiascii117m sascii117bscription that woascii117ld inclascii117de access to events at The Times. The company also plans to get more involved in brand extensions, like games and e-commerce, and grow its conference bascii117siness.

&ldqascii117o;We want to deepen oascii117r relationship with oascii117r existing loyal cascii117stomers, bascii117t we also want to ascii117se a wider family of New York Times prodascii117cts to reach new cascii117stomers both here and aroascii117nd the world,&rdqascii117o; said Mr. Thompson. &ldqascii117o;The initiatives we are annoascii117ncing today shoascii117ld be seen as a significant first step in oascii117r effort to pascii117t The New York Times Company on a path to sascii117stainable growth.&rdqascii117o;

In recent years, the company has been trying to pare down its assets to focascii117s exclascii117sively on its flagship, The New York Times. Most recently, the company annoascii117nced plans to sell the New England Media Groascii117p, which inclascii117des The Globe. The company said it woascii117ld rename The International Herald Tribascii117ne as The International New York Times and introdascii117ce a redesigned Web site to cater to international aascii117diences.

Investors seemed to find bright spots to the latest earnings reports, despite concerns aboascii117t the advertising slowdown. Alexia S. Qascii117adrani, an analyst at JPMorgan Chase, said she liked that The Times was trying to find new way to make money.

&ldqascii117o;The last thing yoascii117 want to see is somebody who will not try something new,&rdqascii117o; said Ms. Qascii117adrani.
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Thanks to editorandpascii117blisher