What’s the diminutive of “bump”? A bumplet? Whatever you want to call it, the news industry seems to be experiencing something less than the well-documented “Trump bump” it enjoyed during the president’s first term.
It’s a healthy number. But when The New York Times added 308,000 net digital subscribers in the first quarter of 2017 — the first quarter with Donald Trump in the Oval Office — it was the single best quarter for subscription growth in the newspaper’s history. Then-CEO Mark Thompson called the news “astonishing.”
It’s a testament to the robust subscription business the Times has built in the years since that the number is relatively unexciting today. In the four quarters of 2024, the Times added 210,000 net digital-only subscribers, 300,000 subscribers, 260,000 subscribers, and 350,000 subscribers.
To put that 250,000 number in context: The Times has a total print circulation of about 250,000 a day. Adding that many new digital subscribers in just three months is a real feat, even if it’s become a boringly consistent one by now.
Since Trump first took office, the Times has focused on selling its bundle of subscription products — rather than its news-only offering — and the push has paid off. More than 5 million subscribers (49%) currently pay for the bundle or multiple products. Only 15% of Times subscribers only pay for news.A few years ago, the Times announced its goal was 15 million subscribers by the end of 2027. (Remember: The Times is counting subscribers. Some subscribers pay for separate subscriptions.) If the Times continues to add subscribers at its current pace over the last year — a tall task, given 2024 was a news-heavy election year — it’ll come in with 14 million subscribers and some change.
In other words: they’re running a touch behind and may need more than a bumplet to make up the difference.
