Commentary

NYT's 'Modern Love' Column To Become Amazon Series

The New York Times has found its digital legs over the past few years, becoming a model for what a traditional news company can be.

Through rigorous digital marketing — the paper now counts 2,783,000 digital subscribers as of Q1 2018 — and capturing niche audiences—The NYT’s Crossword counts 400,000 standalone subscribers — the company is thriving at a time when other media companies are struggling to stay alive. 

In 2018, the company announced its subscription revenue surpassed $1 billion for 2017.

The New York Times also knows how to capitalize on its most popular products.

“Modern Love” has long been one of the newspaper’s most popular columns in print and digital, since its launch in 2004. Stories range from the intricacies of female friendship to dating while ill.

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Since its birth, the column has been turned into an anthology called Modern Love: 50 True and Extraordinary Tales of Desire, Deceit, and Devotion, published in 2007, and a podcast, which features celebrities reading some of the most beloved columns. The column has even sparked a series of successful live events.

That’s a lot of traction for a weekly column chronicling the intimacy and pain that sometimes accompanies love.

Now Amazon Studios and The NYT have announced the column will be adapted into a series.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the series will consist of eight standalone episodes exploring “love in its multitude of forms, including sexual, romantic, familial, platonic and self-love.”

John Carney, the filmmaker behind Once and Begin Again, is set to write, direct and produce the series through Storied Media Group and The NYT.

The Hollywood Reporter notes that this comes as Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, announced her plans to push for more female-focused shows.

In a Deadline interview, she said: “It’s telling heightened kind of stories about love and romance, not necessarily all romantic.”

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