THINK!: NYTCompany Press Release.

Sunday, 26 October 2008

NYTimes.com Announces New Video Platform with Deeper Integration Throughout the Site (NYT Company Press Release)

If you're like me and heavily reliant on www.iht.com you will be spending more and more time getting to know www.nytimes.com which will host - in ways not yet clear - the IHT from spring of 2009.

NYTimes.com Announces New Video Platform with Deeper Integration Throughout the Site (NYT Company Press Release)
New Features Include Section-front Video Players, Better Search and a Redesigned Video Library
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 24, 2008--NYTimes.com announced today the launch of a new video platform that introduces video into more sections of the site and provides enhanced user functionality. This new platform emphasizes The Times's strong commitment to video as an important journalistic medium. Players, now using a high-definition format, are available on the home page, article pages, in blogs and in the video library, making video an even more integral component of the NYTimes.com experience.
The video platform also introduces:
-- Widescreen format - high-definition videos are now displayed in a 16x9 widescreen frame;
-- Redesigned video library (www.NYTimes.com/video) - library offers a clean layout and a black background for optimal viewing comfort;
-- Individual video pages - an individual playback page for each video that provides a better viewing experience and enhanced searchability;
-- "Most Viewed" - a continually updated list of the most viewed videos across the site; and
-- Share tools - the ability to share videos to social sites such as Digg, Facebook, LinkedIn, Mixx and Yahoo! Buzz.
"Demand for high-quality video is on the rise across the Web from both our users and our advertisers," said Nicholas Ascheim, vice president, product management, NYTimes.com. "To meet this need, we have upgraded our technology, increased our production values and given video even more prominence across the site."
"As our online audience continues to grow, video is an increasingly useful tool for Times journalists," said Ann Derry, editorial director, video and television, The New York Times. "By further integrating video throughout the site, we can bring to life the rich stories and characters that are best experienced visually."
The Times produces over 100 original videos per month, featuring breaking news and analysis, as well as enterprise and investigative reporting by Times journalists around the world, many of whom are shooting video themselves. The Times also continues to develop video series by well-known journalists such as David Pogue, Mark Bittman (The Minimalist), David Carr (The Carpetbagger) and A.O. Scott (Critics' Picks). NYTimes.com/video currently houses over 3,000 videos. NYTimes.com also offers select videos from CNBC, MSNBC, Reuters and Bloggingheads.tv, as well as more than 15,000 movie trailers and clips. In recent weeks, NYTimes.com has begun hosting video at the top of the homepage, including live streaming video of the presidential and vice presidential debates.
The new video experience uses Brightcove 3, the latest version of Brightcove's online video platform; The New York Times Company is an investor in Brightcove Inc.
According to Nielsen Online, NYTimes.com had 20.1 million unique visitors in September 2008, and was the No. 1 newspaper Web site in United States, a position it has long held.

READ AN ALTERNATIVE IHT DAILY NARRATIVE AT
A PLACE IN THE AUVERGNE

LOOKING FOR A CHRISTMAS PRESENT?
"Books about cosmopolitan urbanites discovering the joys of country life are two a penny, but this one is worth a second glance. Walthew's vivid description of the moral stress induced by his job as a high-flying executive with the International Herald Tribune newspaper is worth the cover price alone…. Highly recommended." The Oxford Times

International Herald Tribune

IHT
New York Times
The NYT Company

Vacation /Business Trip Furnished Rental Apartment in Paris

Tuesday, 14 October 2008

Key Magazine - IHT and NYT property magazine

If you subscribe to the IHT or bought it at a kiosk last Friday (10th October, 2008) you will have received their new property magazine Key. Unlike with T magazine which arrives several days before the pub date, by mail, the Key magazine was in my letter box with Friday's edition of the newspaper, so some improvement there on the timeliness of these IHT magazines' distribution.

Most interesting about it for me was to see the '28 steps to the International New York Times' rendering of what looks like to be the first public glimpse of the new IHT masthead which will be rolled out next year as part of a wider re-design. The combined mastheads were run vertically on the cover of key but these photos I took strip out the elements individually.

(BTW: no one at the IHT/NYT is under any illusion that a re-design will transform the IHT's future. It is simply something being done to basically tread water. Tread water for how long and to what end?)

NYTCompany Investor relations team press release, dated the following press release 10/10/08 and I received it yesterday. Timely.

Here it is.

My main observation on Key, having now read it, was the complete disconnect between the types of property featured editorially (in terms of value) and the value of the mega-mansions being advertised.

My question is how many of the advertisers listed will still be in business this time next year?

The New York Times/International Herald Tribune Publish First International Edition of ‘Key’
Real Estate Magazine Attracts Significant Advertiser Interest
Paris and New York, October 13, 2008: The first issue of KEY: The New York Times/International Herald Tribune Real Estate Magazine, which launched today, attracted significant advertiser interest and has a total of 51 advertiser pages. The magazine’s theme focuses on the emotional attachment people have to their homes including a mix of articles ranging from managing one’s home from remote locations to relocating your entire family to a castle in Scotland.
Advertisers in KEY, International Edition include: Brown Harris Stevens; Christie’s Great Estates; Clarett Group; The Corcoran Group; Corcoran Sunshine Marketing, Dubai Properties; Extell Development Company; Glenwood Management; K. Hovnanian Homes; LandVest, O’Connor Capital Partners, Punta Cana; On Prospect Park; Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate; St. Regis Residence Club, New York; Stillman Development International; Stribling Marketing Associates; Swig Equities, LLC; Toll Brothers; Domaine de Terre Blanche; and Trump International Golf Club and Residences, Puerto Rico.
“Advertisers’ response to the first international edition of KEY exceeded our expectations,” said Denise Warren, senior vice president and chief advertising officer, The New York Times Media Group. “We are very pleased to see that there is a strong appetite for attracting new audiences and that KEY is seen as a new opportunity to reach our upscale international readers.”
“The launch of KEY, International Edition is providing advertisers with yet another way to reach the IHT’s affluent and sophisticated audience while enriching and expanding the content we provide to our readers,” said Jean-Christophe Demarta, international advertising director, The New York Times Media Group.
KEY, International Edition is distributed inside the IHT to subscribers, at hotels and on newsstands in major markets in Europe and the Middle East. The next issue of KEY, International Edition will be published in March 2009. For information on advertising, please contact Andy Wright at +1 212-556-1050 or wrighah@nytimes.com.