New York Times Digital, the online arm of New York Times Co., more than doubled its operating profit in the second quarter thanks to increased demand for online advertising.
The Internet unit, which publishes NYTimes.com and Boston.com, reported yesterday that sales grew 27 percent in the quarter compared with the prior year, totaling $27.4 million. Operating profit ballooned from $4.3 million to $8.9 million.
Though NYTD remains a small part of the company — its sales were less than 4 percent that of the newspaper unit — it appears set to grow in prominence. NYTD’s 27 percent revenue growth rate dwarfed the 11 percent at the broadcast unit and 2 percent for newspapers.
NYTD’s success is mirrored by other online publishers. MSNBC.com said this week it recorded its first quarterly profit after losing money since its inception in 1996. The news site, a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC News, said it has annual revenue of $45 million.
