TheNew Yorker, which has launched several new Web channels over the past year, is continuing its digital expansion with the launch of two new channels—one dedicated to Science and Technology and the other to Business—in the coming months.
NewYorker.com editor Nick Thompson told Adweek that he plans to “dramatically expand the number of blog posts” in the Tech and Science vertical, which will include contributions from New Yorker writers like Ken Auletta, Gary Marcus and Tim Wu. To help run the Science and Tech vertical, which launches in March, The New Yorker hired Matt Buchanan from BuzzFeed FWD, the site's tech vertical. (While writers from legacy brands have flocked to BuzzFeed since the start of the Ben Smith era, it’s not often that you hear of anyone moving in the opposite direction.) Siemens is the channel’s launch partner.
The Business hub will debut in late February with Xerox as its launch sponsor. The channel won’t be quite as expansive as the Science and Tech vertical (and won’t include a blogging platform), but according to Thompson, it will have more infographics and video content and play home to some of the magazine’s most popular writers, like Malcolm Gladwell. Both new channels will also include republished material from The New Yorker’s archives.
“We’re looking at this as a continuation of the expansion that started with our Culture Desk blog, then Page Turner blog, Books hub, and Humor channel,” which launched in 2012, said Thompson. The digital push has resulted in major audience and ad revenue growth, according to publisher Lisa Hughes. The site had 9.5 million monthly unique visitors in January, more than doubling its audience versus a year ago and tripling its level over two years, while site revenue is up over 70 percent for the month.