What publishers can learn from The New York Times's 'solar system' model - with global ads VP Tom Armstrong

What publishers can learn from The New York Times's 'solar system' model - with global ads VP Tom Armstrong

From The Media Leader Podcast by The Media Leader

July 13, 2026 · 17 min · Season 5 · Episode 102

About this episode

Tom Armstrong discusses The New York Times's successful strategies in publishing and advertising.

The New York Times is something of a rarity in contemporary news publishing: a legacy giant that is seeing double-digit revenue growth and consistent readership growth. It's no surprise, then, that many commercial leaders at other publishers here in the UK have pointed to the Gray Lady as having developed a model they want to emulate. So to kick off our publishing week in focus here at The Media Leader , it was a pleasure to sit down with Tom Armstrong, The New York Times ’s VP of global advertising. Host Jack Benjamin spoke with Armstrong in sunny Cannes about how NYT ’s “solar system” strategy of surrounding its reporting with verticals like cooking and games has driven commercial opportunity, the publisher’s strategy for international expansion, and how NYT is embracing multimedia journalism. Highlights: 1:19: What's driving NYT 's growth: Portfolio transformation, subscription-first strategy 4:59: Is NYT not just a news company anymore? 6:52: International growth strategy 8:23: Why it's important for publishers to be sought out by name in the new era of AI search 12:07: Pivoting to video (again) - opportunities and pitfalls Related articles: ‘We are a destination’: NYT’s…

People in this episode

Host: Jack Benjamin

Guest: Tom Armstrong

Topics covered

Keywords

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The New York Times, The Media Leader, Google

Places: Cannes

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