The New York Times reported a 9.6% year-over-year increase in subscription revenue, reaching $481.4 million. Total advertising revenue grew 12.4% to $134 million, with digital advertising revenue surging 18.7% to $94.4 million, surpassing the company’s expectations due to strong demand in gaming and sports sectors.
In Q2 2025, The New York Times gained 230,000 digital-only subscribers, bringing its total to 11.3 million. About 6.02 million of these were bundle or multi-product subscribers. Including print, the company’s total subscriber base reached 11.9 million.
Operating costs climbed 6.2% to $579.3 million, including $3.5 million in pretax legal expenses related to an ongoing lawsuit against Microsoft and OpenAI over the use of The Times’ content for training generative AI models.
In May, The Times signed an AI licensing deal with Amazon for its editorial content, though terms were not disclosed.
The Athletic, acquired in 2022 for $550 million, posted an adjusted operating profit of $5.8 million, compared to a $2.4 million loss in the prior year’s second quarter, driven by growth in subscriptions, advertising, and licensing revenue. The Times will cease separate earnings reporting for The Athletic starting with its third-quarter results.