NYT and Delta Air Lines strike distribution deal
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Photo: Courtesy of Delta Air Lines and the New York Times
The New York Times struck a multiyear distribution partnership with Delta Air Lines that brings its journalism and products to Delta customers via the airline's in-flight experience and beyond, executives told Axios.
Why it matters: This partnership expands the Times' reach to millions of Delta SkyMiles members globally and adds to the suite of high-end content options Delta makes available to its customers.
How it works: The full portfolio of the Times' journalism and content — including its core news, games, cooking, sports coverage and more — will be accessible to Delta SkyMiles members via seatback screens and their personal devices connected to Delta's Sync Wi-Fi by T-Mobile.
- Once a flyer signs in while on board, they can access the Times' journalism for up to 24 hours, allowing them to continue exploring the Times' content beyond their in-flight experience.
- Access can be unlocked for free through Delta's Sync Wi-Fi program with no credit card required.
- Delta's Sync Wi-Fi is available on nearly 1,200 airplanes. Its planes feature 160,000 seatback screens. Its SkyMiles membership reaches millions of customers.
Zoom out: The deal represents a unique opportunity for the Times to get its product in front of premium customers and during an onboard environment with fewer distractions.
- "We see a really good brand affiliation between Delta and the Times," said Rebecca Grossman-Cohen, senior vice president of strategic partnerships and executive operations at the New York Times.
- "For the Times to be in front of people in that kind of way is a great opportunity for us to expose our suite of products to people when they're in this really unique moment of their day."
The big picture: The partnership represents Delta's first truly global content deal. It's also its first major news content deal, said Julieta McCurry, vice president of in-flight entertainment and connectivity strategy at Delta.
- The airline already offers premium streaming content through deals with companies such as Paramount, YouTube Premium and Crunchyroll.
- More entertainment partnerships will be announced later this year, McCurry said.
- The deal is an expansion of a previous 2023 partnership between the two companies in which Delta Sync Wi-Fi customers could access the New York Times' games content.
Context: The Times has a long history of striking enterprise partnerships to increase its exposure around the world, including a hotel, cruise and airline distribution partnership with PressReader and a smaller-scale deal with American Airlines that gives its loyalty members the ability to unlock access to the Times through their loyalty points.
- It also has distribution deals with thousands of universities, public libraries, schools and businesses around the world.
- It partners with dozens of global news outlets on subscriber deals, and it has unique partnerships with companies like American Express and Instacart.
The bottom line: The Delta deal is different from other Times distribution deals because it's more integrated within the Delta customer experience, Grossman-Cohen said.
- Other strategic partnerships are mostly focused on adding Times content to their existing bundles or products that they already offer.
