The subscriber gates are coming to the New York Times, which will begin offering only the most recent episode of its podcasts available for free to listeners. Beginning next month, the Times will make its subscription bundle available on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, while at the same time it will start to wall off older episodes to non-subscribers. The Times will still make its shows, like The Daily, Modern Love, Hard Fork, and The Ezra Klein Show widely available.
“Our audio journalism connects The Times with millions of people every day, and now we’re taking a significant step forward in transforming this powerful connection into a key driver of our subscription business,” said Ben Cotton, Head of Subscription Growth at The Times. “We believe that our audio journalism, featuring the most authoritative coverage of the most important and interesting stories, is worth paying for.”
Under the plan, the three most recent episodes of the morning news podcast The Daily will be available without a subscription. Most other shows will offer two free episodes. In addition to being able to access a podcast’s archive, the Times will also reportedly give subscribers early access to new releases, bonus content, and ad-free listening. Subscribers will also get early access to new shows from Serial Productions.
“We expect the subscription model to evolve over time, allowing us to maintain and grow our audience while simultaneously introducing listeners to the benefit of a subscription,” the Times said in the announcement.
Subscriptions will cost $6 per month or $50 per year, which is the same as the NYT Audio app costs. The Times has had more than one million downloads of its NYT Audio app since it launched in May 2023. New York Times All Access and home delivery subscribers will continue to have full access at no additional charge.
The Times says its podcasts reach “tens of millions” of listeners. Director of Audio Paula Szuchman says they believe now is the right time to make the move to subscriptions.
“Our audio report has gotten much bigger over the past few years, and it has a lot more breadth,” said Szuchman. “We now have several news programs, more shows in tech, politics, culture and lifestyle, and we’ve even expanded our shows in Opinion and Sports. We’re excited to get all our shows in front of more people.”
On Apple Podcasts, listeners who purchased their subscription to The Times in The New York Times app will have their subscriptions automatically connected the next time they open Apple Podcasts. Listeners can also connect their subscriptions by signing into their account from The New York Times channel page and from individual show pages on Apple Podcasts.
On Spotify, listeners can also connect their subscriptions by signing into their account from any New York Times podcasts. Listeners who become subscribers from Spotify can follow a few simple steps to become subscribers and return to listening.
“Working closely with Apple Podcasts and Spotify has allowed us to create a seamless experience that’s both intuitive to use and easy to understand,” said Cotton. “This collaboration allows us to expand our reach while making it easier than ever for listeners to not only engage more deeply with The Times but support our original, independent audio journalism by subscribing.”
The plan to tie podcasts to subscription revenue comes as the Times has seen several consecutive quarters of lower advertising revenue in its podcast business. CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said last month that the Times has continued to feel the impact of some marketers avoiding certain hard news topics. And overall, the Times has put more of an emphasis on growing its subscription revenue with products tied to cooking, puzzles and the sports site The Athletic.
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