WSJ Targets NYT's Luxury Advertisers; NYTCo Stock Hits New Low On Ad Worries
This story was written by David Kaplan.
The increasingly Murdochized WSJ has been aggressively trying to lure NYT's luxury advertisers in much the same way the financial newspaper has been trying to broaden its coverage to grab its rivals general news readership. For example, high-end retailer and long-time NYT ad client Saks Inc. has recently been promoting a new Chanel boutique and men's suit sale in WSJ, Milton Pedraza, CEO of market researcher Luxury Institute, points out to Bloomberg. WSJ is definitely taking away luxury ad dollars from the NYT, both on the print and digital sides, Pedraza told me. Although luxury marketers are shifting more of their declining overall ad spend online, the fight over the category will become more intense he expects.
-- Another body blow: The fact that WSJ is now competing in an area that NYT once had mostly to itself is another difficult blow to NYT, which this week was forced to trim its dividend significantly. Meanwhile, NYTCo's stock is down nearly 12 percent, which Marketwatch noted was new low. The dividend cut was a taken as a sign that the company saw no turnaround in the increasingly challenging ad market anytime soon.
By David Kaplan