/https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1171305981/0x0.jpg?cropX1=0&cropX2=4695&cropY1=255&cropY2=2895&w=1920&resize=1920,0&ssl=1 "New York Times Halts Travel, Sports Sections In Sunday Print Edition")
TOPLINE
With vacations cancelled and professional sports on hold, The New York Times has suspended its travel and sports sections in its Sunday print edition.
10 September 2019, US, New York: Building of the New York Times newspaper publishing house. Photo: … [+]
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
Sports Sunday will be folded into the main section of the Sunday paper, Cheddar first reported, while travel coverage will be dispersed throughout the paper.
The Times will introduce a new lifestyle sectioned geared toward those who are housebound practicing social distancing called At Home.
The pandemic has “caused us to rethink the way we produce traditional elements of the news report and, in particular, the structure of the print newspaper,” executive editor Dean Baquet and managing editor Joseph Kahn said in an internal memo; subscribers will be notified on Friday.
The announcement comes at a time when news outlets are losing ad dollars, despite record readership; in early March, Times CEO Mark Thompson said the company was already starting to see an impact on ad revenue.
Big number
57.5%. That is how much print contributed to the Times’ $1.08 billion in subscription revenue in 2019, even though only 16% of the paper’s 5.25 million subscribers pay for the print editions.
Key background
Sports and travel media have been hit particularly hard during the pandemic. Sales of travel books have declined sharply, according to NPD Bookscan, while many staffers at sports publications like SB Nation and Sports Illustrated have been laid off. The public is hesitant to embrace those pastimes at the moment — a poll released Thursday by CBS News and YouGov found that 15% of Americans would be willing to get on a plane at this point, while only 13% said they would attend a large sports event.
Further reading
The New York Times Will Pause Printing of Sports and Travel Sections (Cheddar)
Americans prioritize staying home and worry restrictions will lift too fast (CBS News)
Trump Says He Disagrees With Georgia Governor Brian Kemp’s Decision To Reopen Some Businesses (Forbes)
Tracker: Media Layoffs, Furloughs And Pay Cuts Due To Coronavirus (Forbes)
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