Saving the New York Times with an Amazon Kindle
In a tight economy every business starts to tighten its belt. CEO’s start to look for ways to trim the budget and make do 
with less. Entrepreunerial-minded business leaders look for ways to do the same thing but in a more economical way. Do you think the newspaper publishers will look at the Kindle as a way to distribute the news and cut their costs?
When advertising revenue is declining and the cost of printing a paper is putting your business into danger of bankruptcy it’s time for a change. It seems the New York Times is in need of a bit of belt cinching. According to a recent Bloomberg.com post, “The New York Times Co. agreed to sell the space it occupies in its Manhattan headquarters for $225 million to pay debt as print advertising revenue declines. The newspaper publisher will lease the building for 15 years…”. Now that’s some major tightening.
A recent post over at the Silicone Alley Insider recently caught my eye. It claims that the Times spends “about twice as much money to print and deliver the newspaper over a year as it would cost to send each of its subscribers a brand new Amazon Kindle instead.”
The author doesn’t propose this as a good idea for the Times – he just points out that the numbers make sense. Why is that? The truth is that print news is quickly becoming extinct. The Internet is quickly becoming (already is?) the major news source for most people. People just aren’t buying print newspapers anymore… and aren’t likely to start again any time soon.
So, what would be the harm in the New York Times (or any other large newspaper) sending its loyal subscribers a Kindle? Wouldn’t the Times loyal readers be willing to pay for a two year subscription in exchange for a free Kindle to read it on?
Cut printing costs, keep your staff working, make money where you can… It’s what every struggling business is doing right now. It seems like an idea worthy of consideration.
Related posts:
- Saving Paper with the Kindle dx
- Can the Kindle 2 Pay for Itself?
- Clean Your Desk with the Amazon Kindle 2
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.