A broader app strategy

Following the closure of the Audio product, the Times’ app portfolio now consists of News, Cooking, Games, and The Athletic.

The publisher has no immediate plans to consolidate any of its other apps, Dolnick said, citing the unique user experiences available to users in its Games and Cooking apps. As for the Athletic, the sheer bulk of its output makes it a poor candidate to be woven into the News app, according to Dolnick.

As The Times works to improve its personalization technology—spurred, in part, by a recent activist shareholder squeeze—the problem of relevant Athletic reporting going unseen by its intended audience should also decrease. Brand safety considerations, keeping sports content separated from news, could also play a role in the decision to keep The Athletic siloed.

Whether The Times keeps its constellation of apps as is or not, its willingness to be unsentimental in these kinds of decisions is a strength, according to Berentson. 

“One of the hardest things in any media business is to be able to look at their portfolio of products and make dispassionate decisions,” Berentson said. “Something can serve a valuable intermediate or transitional purpose and still have been a smart decision to create at the time.”