III.

Business Developments

In the 1980s the company bought golf and sailing magazines and McCall’s, a women’s magazine. It sold its cable television systems.

During the 1990s the newspaper industry experienced a serious slowdown. The price of newsprint rose steeply while advertising revenues and readership declined. The Times fared better than most, with circulation holding. Nevertheless, the paper was forced to trim staff. Despite these problems, the company bought the Boston Globe in 1993.

In the mid-1990s the company acquired a majority interest in Video News International, a newsgathering company. It also bought two cable television news networks. In 1996 the company launched an online version of the Times on the Internet and the following year announced plans to sell all of its magazines except its golf publications. It eventually divested itself of those publications as well. Also in 1997, the Times used color on its front page for the first time in its history. In 2006 the paper announced it would be reducing its double-page width by 7.5 cm (3 in), as part of an economy drive in response to rising newsprint costs.