More changes are on the way to The Athletic as The New York Times Company has decided to tweak its approach to podcasting.
As reported at Nieman Lab and Inside Radio, The Athletic has cut several of its local shows dedicated to covering teams in the NBA, NHL, and MLB.
The Athletic was purchased by The New York Times last year for $550 million. Since that acquisition completed, several layoffs at The Athletic have taken place, as well as the elimination of a dedicated sports staff at the Times. The goal is to have The Athletic turn a profit by 2025.
While the local shows are being phased out for hockey, basketball, and baseball, local podcasts for the NFL have remain unchanged so far. The company is going to continue to produce national podcasts driven by ad revenue and put in front of The Athletic’s paywall.
“We’re always looking to meet our listeners where they are,” a New York Times spokesperson said to Nieman Lab. “And will continue to evolve our strategy based on their listening habits.”
The decision to shift away from local podcasts appears to be one that wasn’t made only recently. Some shows have been dark now for a few months while others either just recently put out farewell episodes or have only been offline for a couple weeks.
Nieman Lab did point out that even though The Athletic won’t house those local shows anymore, the hosts of those shows are now free to pick the podcasts back up – albeit under a new name – and distribute and monetize them independently.
