New York Times aims to double digital revenue by 2020

The sun peaks over the New York Times Building in New York August 14, 2013. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - The New York Times Co said it aimed to double its annual digital revenue to $800 million by 2020 with a concentrated effort to win over more readers on smartphones. The company has crossed 1 million digital subscribers and it needed to create the same "must-read essentiality" among smartphone users that its ubiquitous paper enjoyed, it said in a memo on Wednesday. (http://bit.ly/1OYkofX) "Over the next few years, the battle is going to be won or lost on smartphones. This continues to be our biggest area of focus in every part of the organization," Executive Editor Dean Baquet and Chief Executive Mark Thompson said in the memo. New York Times said 12 percent of its digital subscribers accounted for 90 percent of its digital revenue. Digital revenue was $400 million in 2014. "To double our digital revenue, we need to more than double the number of these most loyal readers," the company said, adding that these new readers will needed to come from younger demographics and international audiences. The company said it will continue experimenting to reach new readers offsite and in new formats, such as Facebook Inc's Instant Articles and Apple Inc's Apple News. Newspaper and magazine publishers are struggling to stem the losses in their print advertising revenue, caused by advertisers' increasing preference for digital platforms as readers turn to smartphones and tablets. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Savio D'Souza)