NYT to debut new TikTok-like "Watch" tab in its app
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The New York Times on Tuesday said it will add a stand-alone destination within its main app that includes a curated mix of short-form, scrollable, vertical news videos, updated daily.
Why it matters: It's part of a broader effort by the Times to bring all of its journalism across mediums into a single, centralized destination, instead of differentiated apps.
Flashback: The Times has experimented in the past with separating its audio experience into a dedicated app, but it eventually folded that content into its main app.
- That effort informed the company's experience when developing its new Watch tab, says Times' deputy managing editor Sam Dolnick.
- "Our news app is a multimedia hub that can do everything," he says. "It's easier for the consumer to have one place to go where you can read, watch, listen."
Zoom in: The new Watch tab, which will officially be available to Times app users on Wednesday, features a swipe-able stack of videos that are editorially produced in-house by the Times' newsroom.
- The videos are short — generally no longer than three minutes.
- They span a broad array of the Times' editorial coverage and expertise, including content from its newsroom and its Opinion section, as well as its lifestyle brands such as NYT Cooking, The Athletic and its consumer reviews site Wirecutter.
- The videos will take on different formats, depending on the topic and reporter. For example, podcast videos from the Times' Opinion team will look and feel different from cooking videos or footage from reporters on the frontlines of major news stories as they unfold globally.
Between the lines: Beginning early next year, inventory in the Watch tab will be available to brands as part of an open beta test for vertical video advertising.
- The new placement "will offer brands a way to create video ads with speed and simplicity, making it easier than ever to get started and optimize campaigns," says Joy Robins, global chief advertising officer at the Times.
By the numbers: The Times has invested significantly in its multimedia efforts over the past few years, particularly in audio and video.
- The company now produces and publishes 75 hours of professionally created video per month, per a Times spokesperson.
- Video consumption, the company noted, has more than doubled year over year across the Times' platforms.
The big picture: The Watch tab aims to make the Times' journalism more accessible to a wider array of people, as it pushes to reach 15 million subscribers by 2027.
- "We're hoping to have the widest reach possible, and that means creating formats that will engage a younger, newer audience — people who may be less familiar with us," says Jordan Vita, the Times' vice president of product.
- The company had at one point focused most of its video efforts on longer-form TV and film content that it could license to streaming partners. It's since evolved its video strategy to make its content more accessible to mobile users.
- "We've focused and honed the videos that we are making — shifted really to short form and vertical in a way that's really powerful," says Solana Pyne, the Times' video director.
