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Reuters
5 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
New York Times forecasts subscription revenue above estimates on bundling strength
Aug 6 (Reuters) - The New York Times (NYT.N), opens new tab forecast third-quarter subscription revenue growth above Wall Street expectations on Wednesday, as it bet on adding more customers through its bundled strategy. Shares of the publisher rose more than 4% in premarket trading. The NYT has been packaging its core news offerings with lifestyle-focused products such as Wirecutter, sports website The Athletic, and games, including Wordle, to enhance subscriber engagement and diversify revenue streams. It added 230,000 net digital-only subscribers in the second quarter, more than Visible Alpha's estimate of 215,800 additions. Out of the total 11.30 million digital-only subscribers, about 6.02 million are bundle and multi-product subscribers. Overall, its subscribers now stand at 11.88 million. In a busy news cycle, NYT's wide array of popular podcasts, including The Daily and The Ezra Klein Show, and newsletters such as The Morning and DealBook are helping it attract customers. The results follow The Times' multi-year agreement with Amazon (AMZN.O), opens new tab in May, marking its first licensing deal focused on generative AI technology. The publisher expects subscription revenue growth to be between 8% and 10%, compared with analysts' average estimates of a 7.3% rise, according to data compiled by LSEG. Total digital-only average revenue per user grew 3.2% to $9.64, beating Visible Alpha estimates of $9.49.
New York Times
02-08-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
A Letter to the Future
A few weeks ago, a reader of The Morning told me about a project she runs wherein people write letters to their future selves and send them to her. Five years later, she mails the letters back to them. She recently opened her own letter from 2020, written during lockdown, and was struck by how much she and the world had changed. A transmission across the years from younger you to older you: What would you say? What feels essential to report from this moment in time, about your life and the world? There's this scene in the 1992 Nora Ephron movie 'This Is My Life,' in which Julie Kavner, playing a mother, says goodbye to her young daughters before going on a trip. She gives them journals, encouraging them to take notes instead of writing letters. 'Letter writing is ridiculous,' she says. 'Nothing ever arrives within a week, and someone else ends up with what you should have: a record of your life.' I wondered, as I considered writing a letter to future me, why not just keep a journal and look back on what I've written five years from now? A letter is different from a journal entry, I reasoned. In a letter, you address another person. You're making sure your thoughts are legible to them, explaining things that you wouldn't need to explain to your journal. And a journal — or at least my journal — tends to be an exercise in immediacy, a way of getting down what happened today, what's on my mind in this instant. In a letter that attempted to capture my experience of being alive right now, I'd pull back, take a wide view and present the situation as more of an offering than a regurgitation. I'd try to convey something essential about who I am, what I believe and hold dear. I recall an assignment in sixth grade in which we were directed to make a list of 100 things we hoped to accomplish before we graduated high school. Our teacher promised to send them to us when we turned 18. I never received mine and have often wondered what I wrote. (I can only recollect that I put down that I wanted to dance with Patrick Swayze, and I believe I copied that lofty aspiration from my friend Tracy. Neither of us accomplished this.) I know that I would have feared that me at 18 would find me at 11 babyish. There's that same type of fear in writing to me five years from now: I want me in 2030 to look back and think my priorities and preoccupations worthwhile. I'm an adult now, and I want to believe that the gist of who I am is to some extent indelible, not so different from who I will be in the future, but there's a small part of me that hopes that future me is going to be wiser and more evolved, and it makes me almost embarrassed to be me today. My friend Sara writes a letter to herself every year on her birthday, but she doesn't open them. I asked her for advice. 'I tend to kind of graze over various areas of my life, internal and external,' she said. 'Who did I hang out with? Who did I wish I spent more time with? What was my favorite beverage? What smell couldn't I get enough of? What made me really sad? What lit me up?' Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The Irish Sun
06-05-2025
- Health
- The Irish Sun
‘It held a mirror back to me' Kathryn Thomas opens up on ‘challenging time' after friend's serious illness diagnosis
KATHRYN Thomas has opened up about a "challenging time" in her life that led her to make lifestyle changes. The popular presenter recently took up a new role at Q102 hosting The Morning Show with Kathryn Thomas from 7 to 10am on weekdays. Advertisement 3 Kathryn currently hosts The Morning show on Q102 Credit: Instagram 3 Kathryn recently opened up about her major lifestyle change Credit: Instagram 3 Kathryn made the change after her friend received a shock diagnoses Credit: Instagram The popular presenter revealed to the comedian that one night she suffered a panic attack, something she hadn't experienced since her twenties. However, before Kathryn experienced the panic attack she had been having minor symptoms that she initially thought could have been perimenopause. Kathryn explained: "About two years ago, I was 44 and there was so much talk about perimenopause and I just thought, I wasn't sleeping, zero libido and really kind of frazzled and forgetful. Advertisement read more on kathryn thomas "I would wake up and without even looking I would know what time it was and I would be awake for the night. I went to a female fertility clinic and talked to a great doctor there and they said, 'Would you think about going on HRT?' "And I said, 'I think I'm a little bit young for that' and she said, 'Not necessarily', and I knew myself that this was a big area for women and not something we should be embarrassed about." Kathryn then revealed that at around the same time she was experiencing these symptoms, her longtime pal was diagnosed with serious illness. She said: "It was a very difficult time for her, for her family as she has young kids... that was a very challenging time to see her going through that and also it held a mirror up to me. Advertisement Most read in Celebrity "I was just thinking, 'Why her and not me, why her family and not my family', and I remember going to bed one night, I had been to see her in the hospital I was doing what I do, came home, got into bed and I just had a massive panic attack." The presenter explained she knew what a panic attack was like and what they were as she had experienced some episodes while in college in her twenties. Kathryn Thomas 'looks right at home' in BRAND NEW studio for role shake up She added: "They didn't continue for me, they were from a time I was partying too hard and working two jobs... but this one really took the wind out of my sail, because I went, 'Oh my god, where did that come out of?'" The mum-of-two said at the time, she didn't, "put two and two together" that the shock of her friends diagnoses and her chaotic schedule was leaving her feeling deflated and struggling to sleep. Advertisement She continued: "That was the start of the real change for me, my sleeping then got all over the place and I was working, all the balls up in the air juggling. BIG CHANGE "I went on HRT for six months thinking that was going to change my sleep, putting the no libido, panic attacks to perimenopause. But it didn't really improve my sleep, it didn't really improve a whole lot. "So, that was when I did a whole life sit-down and went, 'Where am I going? What am I doing? What do I want?'" And after much back in forth in conversation with her husband, Kathryn realised a routine was the core aspect she was currently missing - something granted to her by her new role in Q102. Advertisement She explained: "I will go to bed now and be asleep by 10pm, put the girls to bed at 8:20pm. Put the phone away try not to doomscroll and trying to get back into reading my book. "I was actually not giving myself enough time... and it's working for me now I feel more energised and the brain fog, after I stopped taking HRT (it didn't work for me). "What actually did [fix it] was going to bed earlier, figuring out in my head I'm happy where I'm at, going to work with a smile on my face, playing really good tunes and dancing around my own studio." She finished: "Right now I'm glad that I'm feeling, awake, alive and energised because for two years I was operating on a half mast." Advertisement
New York Times
05-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Your Student Loan Questions
For five years, more than 40 million Americans have not faced dire consequences if they failed to pay back their federal student loan debt. That ends today. As the coronavirus pandemic convulsed the economy, President Trump and Congress brought relief: They allowed borrowers to take a break from their payments. The government also froze the interest, meaning borrowers' balances did not grow. People saved hundreds or even thousands of dollars per month. The measure was popular at the time. It let people improve their credit scores, pay down other debts and build savings. So officials extended the reprieve nine times — across the rest of Trump's first term and most of former President Biden's. But the government made those loans, and letting them go unpaid added to the deficit. Some economists also warned about sending the wrong message — that it was fine not to repay your debt. Eventually, the payment freeze ended, but policymakers said they wouldn't penalize borrowers for late payments yet. Now even that break is gone, and late payments are showing up in credit reports for millions of people. Today, the government restarts collections on defaulted loans — first by docking tax refunds, then by garnishing paychecks and Social Security benefits. (Here's what to know about it.) The Morning asked what you wanted to know about student loans. Today's newsletter has the answers — and looks at what comes next. What happened to loan forgiveness? Soaring tuition prices and government cutbacks for state schools quadrupled federal student loan debt in the 21st century. American borrowers now owe more for their educations than they do for credit cards, car loans or any form of consumer debt other than mortgages. It is a life-altering encumbrance for many people. Democrats have for years wanted to deal with the problem through mass debt cancellation. Biden tried it. His plan to wipe away up to $20,000 per borrower cited the pandemic emergency. But the Supreme Court killed the plan, ruling Biden didn't have the authority. Then the president expanded other established pathways to loan forgiveness, including programs aimed at public service workers, disabled borrowers, people defrauded by for-profit schools and those who had been making payments for 20 years or longer. That effort worked for five million borrowers. Martha Wilson, from Phoenix, asked The Morning: 'All my student loans were forgiven. Do I need to be concerned that they will come back and reinstate them?' Experts say that's extremely unlikely. Biden's effort relied mostly on longstanding federal laws and policies. What next? A second piece of Biden's plan, though, seems doomed. To prevent borrowers from facing bills larger than what they can pay, the government can tie your monthly payment to your income. Biden's new program to do that, called SAVE, cut some borrowers' bills in half and allowed millions of low-wage workers to pay nothing at all. But several Republican-led states said in legal challenges that he couldn't do that, and federal courts froze the plan. (Loan forgiveness has been especially unpopular on the right. College graduates are more likely to be Democrats, although many people with student debt started degrees and never finished.) Some eight million people who enrolled in the plan are now in limbo. 'I am very confused,' says Reily Lynch, a reader from Chicago. 'Is there any update on the SAVE plan?' The Trump administration intends to end the plan if courts don't. For now, borrowers on SAVE can simply stay on pause — they won't be considered delinquent — but that extension is nearly certain to end sometime this year. No one knows exactly when, which stresses borrowers out. Another point of confusion is Trump's ambition to close the Education Department — the agency that owns and manages federal student debt — and move the loans to another agency. Supa Shah, from Las Vegas, asks how that would affect people: 'Will it be a mess? What should student loan borrowers do to make sure their information isn't lost or incorrect?' Moving all those records, including contracts with the companies that collect payments, would be complicated, and it can't happen without Congress. Lawmakers and federal officials tell me there's no plan for this. The best thing borrowers can do right now to protect themselves is go to and check on the status of their loans. The website will show you if your loan is current, in forbearance, delinquent or in default. It tells you whom to contact to make payments or request changes. What if the data gets lost in a transfer, or what if the government removes some of it outright, as it has done in some other agencies? It's a good idea to download and make copies of the information you see on the website. Related: Here are more tips for navigating the chaotic loan-repayment system. Foreign Policy More on the Trump Administration Middle East More International News The Vatican Other Big Stories Over the weekend, locals in the southernmost tip of Texas — most of whom work for SpaceX — voted to create a new city called Starbase. The city, which snakes around various parcels of land that the company owns, is still fairly small, with some housing in addition to a rocket factory and launchpad. But there are plans to add a school, a grocery store and a sushi restaurant. The U.S. wants to increase exports by weakening the dollar. But these policies could result in higher costs for American consumers and businesses, Rebecca Patterson writes. Listen to the last 'Conversation' between Gail Collins and Bret Stephens. Aaron Retica joins to answer reader questions. Here are columns by David French on law enforcement impunity and Margaret Renkl on slowing down in spring. Overwhelmed? Visit New York City's cherry blossoms, our Big City columnist writes. In … and out: Deep breathing can be a game changer for anyone. Elite athletes agree. Near-death experiences: When the actor Jeremy Renner almost died two years ago he, like thousands of others, experienced an 'exhilarating peace.' Why? A problem shared: Laid Off, a new Substack newsletter, serves as a support group for those who have lost their jobs. Metropolitan Diary: Bagels? Not like that. Most clicked yesterday: Tight hips? These moves can help. Trending online yesterday: Trump wants Alcatraz to be a prison again. Lives Lived: Will Hutchins had a comically genteel starring role during the craze for television westerns in the 1950s, playing a sheriff who favored cherry soda over whiskey on 'Sugarfoot.' Hutchins died at 94. N.H.L.: The Jets advanced to the second round after defeating the Blues in Game 7. It was an impressive finish: The Jets tied the game with 1.6 seconds left and won it in double overtime. N.B.A.: The Warriors won a 103-89 victory over the Rockets in their Game 7. Late night television is at an inflection point. Ratings are down, as is advertising revenue. And despite other television genres — including the prestige drama and reality TV — making the transition to streaming, talk shows are yet to follow. (John Mulaney's weekly Netflix show, 'Everybody's Live,' is a test of whether the format can survive the streaming era.) What, then, does the future of talk shows look like? According to some, it looks a lot like a video podcast. More on culture Mix chickpeas, feta and avocado for this chopped salad. Revive old wood furniture. Care for your hair with a silk pillowcase. Take our news quiz. Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was touched. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections, Sports Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your morning with The Times. See you tomorrow. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@
New York Times
29-04-2025
- Business
- New York Times
What Do You Want to Know About Student Loans?
Next week, the federal government will resume collecting payments from the millions of Americans who have defaulted on their student loan debts. (The Biden administration had paused enforcement in 2020, during the pandemic.) For a future edition of The Morning newsletter, we want to know: What questions do you have about student loans? We won't publish any part of your response without following up with you first. And we won't use your contact information for any reason other than to get in touch with you.
