McKinsey on NYT Incoming
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Building a digital New York Times
In the news
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New leadership. On Wednesday, CNN said it has hired Mark Thompson, former CEO of the New York Times Company, to serve as its new chair and CEO. Thompson, whose tenure begins on October 9, led the New York Times through a period of rapid expansion, adding millions of digital subscribers and bolstering the company’s financial performance. Prior to joining the Times, Thompson began his career as a trainee at the BBC, where he was eventually appointed director general in 2004. [NYT]
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Cable news chief. Longtime news veteran Mark Thompson, the incoming CEO of CNN, will start his new role prior to the US presidential election in 2024, an event that typically attracts millions of TV viewers for cable news companies. Thompson will run the strategy, operations, and business units of CNN, according to its parent company. He will also step into the role of the news network’s editor in chief, supervising all of its editorial content. One of Thompson’s objectives will be to grow CNN’s digital offerings while minding its cable TV channels. [WSJ]
“Many become leaders because they’re great at one thing. In this digital moment, you need people who can be good at one thing and can then learn something else.”
On McKinsey.com
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An outsider’s perspective. From 2012 to 2020, Mark Thompson, the New York Times Company’s former president and CEO, oversaw the institution’s dramatic transformation. Under his watch, the Times’s digital readership jumped from half a million to nearly 5.7 million subscribers. Yet in 2019, when Thompson announced his ambition to reach 10 million subscribers by 2025, many were skeptical, he said to McKinsey senior partner Yael Taqqu and McKinsey Global Publishing’s Raju Narisetti. Thompson’s outsider status had the advantage of a “cold eye,” he explained.
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Building on past success. During an earlier period when the company faced economic difficulties, the Times launched daily lifestyle sections, with topics such as culture and entertainment, food, and dining. That “started making the case for a bigger proposition,” which eventually led to the debut of news products such as NYT Cooking. “It was about trying to get a conveyor belt of improvements and ideas,” Thompson said. For more on how Thompson expanded the New York Times’ digital reach, read the full interview.