Top 10 NYT Competitors in 2023

The New York Times (NYT) is a US-based daily newspaper that claims to seek the truth for understanding the world better. It is one of the very few local newspapers that boasts of a substantial global readership base. It started off as the New-York Daily Times way back in 1851. Nearly half a century later, its name was shortened to the New York Times with the hyphen removed soon after the then-president Theodore Roosevelt’s stand against hyphenated Americanism. 

Since then, the NYT has won the highest number of Pulitzer prizes (132) and is the third-largest newspaper in the US. Another little record that NYT has broken is the one of publishing the heaviest newspaper ever. The year was 1987 when the Times had printed and distributed a 12-pound heavy newspaper having over 1600 pages!

Name	The New York Times
Founded	1851
Headquarters	New York, NY, US
SIC Code	2741
Status	Public, Independent Company
Industry Sector	Publishing
Employees	4500
Trading Symbol	NYSE: NYT

Since the arrival of the digital age when the latest news became available at the click of a button, the subscribers of NYT began receding in number. However, this newspaper was still one of the first to welcome the internet with open arms and tap into its limitless possibilities. Initially, its online distribution rights were handled by a third party, but in 1996, NYT started its first official online portal, www.NYTimes.com.

Today, while NYT’s number of subscribers may not be at its peak, it still has a healthy readership base around the world with over 5 million subscribers (both traditional and digital). Are you one of those who are looking to switch newspapers? Regardless of the reason for your discontinuation of NYT, here are the top 10 of its competitors for your benefit.

NYT Competitors:

The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Post, Meredith Corporation, The Economist, BuzzFeed, The Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times.

Who is NYT’s Biggest Competitor?

The biggest competitor of the New York Times is The Wall Street Journal (WSJ). Popularly known simply as The Journal, WSJ is a prestigious daily newspaper based in NYC. The first traces of the newspaper’s beginnings can be found in the early 1880s when short bulletins were hand-delivered to the stock market people. Those ‘flimsies’, as they were called, were converted into a complete newspaper in 1889 by three reporters, Edward Jones, Charles Dow, and Charles Bergstresser, today is known as The Wall Street Journal.

How NYT makes Money

The business model of the New York Times is simple. It primarily reports news from all over the world through its excellent team of reporters, photographers, and writers in a basic newspaper format. NYT makes profits by mass-producing such newspapers on a daily basis and distributing them to its subscribers. They also have online subscriptions for news and other media. In both digital and traditional formats, NYT also makes money by printing advertisements alongside the news.

Currently, the revenue of the New York Times is somewhere around $1.8 billion, 80% of which comes from its digital subscriptions (4,600,000 subscribers). Its traditional print subscribers are much lesser (about 800,000), but the customers of their games, cooking sections have risen to nearly 1,400,000. Let us take a look at the industries in which NYT operates.

Publishing

Publishing is the act of making any bit of knowledge available to the world in any format. While the word is mostly associated with books and print media, publishing is a very vast industry. Apart from books and newspapers, it also includes the publishing of magazines, music, software, e-books, games, and other digital media. Publishing may also refer to legal concepts like formal notices, defamation claims, copyright protections, etc.

The New York Times is a giant in the publishing industry, with hundreds of thousands of publications made every single day! With the amount of research that is required to produce factually and grammatically accurate news with the aid of only 4500 employees, that is indeed a credible achievement. In this day and age where information is crudely handled over social media, with several fake news being circulated over many platforms, NYT is one of the few avenues you can trust.

Games and other Media

Apart from news publications, the NYT is also quite popular for its other forms of media, like games and cooking recipes. In fact, this sector has twice more subscribers than for their traditional newspaper! The Spelling bee, Crossword, and Tiles are among the most popular games offered by NYT, and their cooking recipes are simply delicious. 

Also, here’s another bit of fact that may come as a surprise to many – NYT has recently launched its very own Tor Onion service online, firmly holding its place on the ‘dark web’. Thus, it has effectively squashed the rumors that the dark web is only used for illegal purposes.

The Wall Street Journal

As you may have figured out from the name, The Wall Street Journal focuses on business-specific news. However, it doesn’t only publish news from the Wall Street of NYC, but from all over the world. Did you know that WSJ is one of the few major American newspapers which provide the news in languages other than English? Yes, you can find a WSJ in Chinese and Japanese too!

With close to 3 million daily subscribers, The Journal generates annual revenue of over $420 million, less than half the revenue of NYT. Nonetheless, it is still regarded among the most reputable newspapers in the country, given that it has won 37 Pulitzer prizes so far.

Publishing

With over 3 million copies published every single day, The Journal is one of the largest newspapers in circulation in the US. While corporate, political, and economic news may be WSJ’s staple, but do you know that the newspaper publishes all other kinds of news too from economic and financial standpoints? Right from health and food to technology and travel, you can find the latest goings-on in any industry in The Journal.

WSJ’s luxury fashion magazine is also worth noting. It has featured the likes of Penélope Cruz, Woody Allen, and Scarlett Johansson on its front cover, and it delivers a total of 12 magazines every year.

The Washington Post

The Washington Post, unlike NYT and The Journal, has a major readership base within the US with barely any international readers. However, it has one of the largest circulation numbers in the country. Based in Washington, DC, the Post was founded over 143 years ago by Stilson Hutchins. It has struggled to make its mark for over half a century in the initial stages, but since 1933, the newspaper has been capturing the attention of a substantial number of readers.

Publishing

The Washington Post’s daily circulation is upwards of 1 million, most of which is digital. Its revenue is somewhere around the $1 billion marks, and it is slowly receding every year. Nonetheless, the Post remains the most read newspaper in the Washington metropolitan area. It is currently owned by Nash Holdings with Fred Ryan being the present publisher.

The New York Post

The New York Post is popularly called the Post in NYC, but it is not to be mistaken with the official shortened name of the Washington Post. The NYPost is one of the oldest newspapers on this list, with its foundation laid in 1801 by Alexander Hamilton. Back then, it was called the New York Evening Post, and today, it has grown into a daily tabloid newspaper with a digital presence.

Publishing

Apart from the daily print newspaper, the New York Post also has several online portals like www.NYPost.com, www.PageSix.com, and www.Decider.com. In total, all those avenues generate revenue of a little more than $160 million for the NYPost.

Meredith Corporation

The Meredith Corporation is different from the rest of the competitors in the sense that it also runs TV channels, radio stations, and websites other than newspapers and magazines. However, its annual revenue of $800 million is nowhere close to the $1.8 billion of NYT. Meredith is headquartered in Des Moines, Iowa, and has more than 120 million readers under its belt.

Mass Media

Publishing forms just one part of the multibillion-dollar mass media industry. So why does Meredith generate a relatively lower revenue? That is because most of its subscribers are website visitors, where they may or may not receive paid clicks. Nonetheless, Meredith has come a long way since its early establishment in 1902.

The Economist

As the name suggests, the Economist focuses on economic news and, unlike the other newspapers, it has a weekly circulation. It is more of a magazine than a newspaper and also has a digital publication panel. The Economist was founded in 1843 by James Wilson. Its headquarters are currently located in Westminster, London.

Publishing

Due to its economic-centric view of the latest events happening all around the world, the Economist has a fairly large readership base of around 1.6 million. More than half of those prefer the print version instead of the digital format. The revenue of this weekly newspaper is more than $450 million.

The Times

While The Times may be synonymous with the NYT for any New York resident, for the rest of the world, it denotes the British version of The Times. The Times had been founded over 65 years before the NYT, effectively making it the oldest newspaper on the list. Its headquarters, The News Building, is one of the most famous landmarks in London.

Publishing

The Times is the first newspaper in the world to be known with that name. The likes of NYT and The Times Group are simply extensions of its ilk. However, its circulation is presently lower than that of NYT (600,000 subscribers), placing its revenue at about $755 million. Regardless of its declining popularity, The Times still remains the most reputable newspaper in the world.

BuzzFeed

Who doesn’t know about BuzzFeed? It is only one of the most viral platforms that deliver viral content! Founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John Johnson, BuzzFeed is a digital media distributor of news and entertainment. Its headquarters are in NYC.

News and Entertainment

BuzzFeed is always on the lookout for news and entertainment content that has the potential to become viral. The website is available in various languages including English, Spanish, German, and Portuguese. It generates revenue of around $167 million.

USA Today

USA Today is a daily newspaper owned by Gannett. It is a relatively recent newspaper, with its first circulation in the year 1982. Despite that, USA Today has a daily circulation of the number of over 1.2 million. Its base of operations can be found in McLean, VA, US. Its international headquarters are located in Switzerland.

Publishing

Every edition of USA Today is divided into four basic sections – News, Money, Sports, and Life (lifestyle). Most of its whopping $2 billion revenue comes from the US and Canada. It has an employee base of just over 300, and it primarily operates from Gannett’s HQ in Tysons, VA.

Chicago Tribune

The Chicago Tribune mostly focuses on local Chicago news, with separate sections for national and international news. Founded in 1847, it is currently based in North Stetson Avenue, Chicago, IL. It boasts of over 1.5 million subscribers.

Publishing

Given the huge number of subscribers, you may have thought the Chicago Tribune would be making great profits. However, its revenue of $980 million is nearly half that of NYT.

Los Angeles Times

Another daily local newspaper that has an international readership, the Los Angeles Times, is the 5th largest newspaper in the US going by its circulation. You might have thought that the LA Times would be based in Los Angeles city. Interestingly, its headquarters lie in El Segundo instead!

Publishing

Winner of over 40 Pulitzer prizes, the LA Times has a readership base of over 1.5 million. The company generates revenue of just over $880 million.

Conclusion:

The Top 10 NYT Competitors: The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, The New York Post, Meredith Corporation, The Economist, BuzzFeed, The Times, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Los Angeles Times. Including the New York Times, they rack up a total revenue of nearly $9.5 billion. They have a cumulative employee base of around 42,300.

Competitor Stats:

Name	Founded	Headquarters	Employees
The Wall Street Journal	1889	New York City, NY, US	2300
The Washington Post	1877	Washington DC, US	3300
The New York Post	1801	New York City, NY	725
Meredith Corporation	1902	Des Moines, Iowa, US	8000
The Economist	1843	Westminster, London, England	1400
BuzzFeed	2006	New York City, NY, US	1700
The Times	1785	London, England	12,500
USA Today	1982	McLean, VA, US	2300
Chicago Tribune	1847	Chicago, IL, US	500
Los Angeles Times	1881	El Segundo, CA, US	5100