New York Times Circulation Gains Help Boost Profits

Despite the New York Times's own Brian Stelter warning of decreasing ad revenue and a fresh round of buyouts, the New York Times turned in a profit last quarter.  "The company, which reported its earnings for July through September on Thursday, posted a profit of $15.7 million," reports The Times's Jeremy Peters.  "Compared with a loss of $4.3 million during the third quarter last year. That translated to earnings of 11 cents a share versus a loss of 3 cents a share a year ago."  Stelter was right about advertising: numbers slipped 8.8 percent. But the revenue losses were offset by lower costs and an increase in circulation revenue, especially digital subscriptions. "The Times now has 324,000 paid subscribers to the various digital editions of the paper, including e-readers and its Web site, compared with 281,000 at the end of the second quarter," writes Peters.  Print subscriptions, which come with the digital packages, also increase, the company also said.