• by Paul Gough , October 17, 2003

The nation's top-ranked online newspaper site continued to fly high in the third quarter.

New York Times Digital's revenues -- which include NYTimes.com, Boston.com and an archive distribution unit -- increased 19.7 percent in the quarter ended Sept. 30 to $21.8 million on the strength of higher advertising volume. Company officials said new deals with AOL and General Motors were a big boost.

And if classified - particularly help wanted - lags any media recovery on the print side of the newspaper group, New York Times Digital doesn't seem to have that problem.

Employment classified at New York Times Digital rose 20 percent in the quarter and is up more than 12 percent for the year. That compares to help- wanted continuing down at The New York Times, Boston Globe and other Times- owned papers. Print executives say they're hoping that they're near the bottom but one said he wasn't wildly optimistic about recruitment unless there's a major improvement in job growth. But the digital unit's continuing to make progress on a category that most newspapers and several Web sites have found to be rocky lately.

"We've seen continuous improvement throughout the year on the digital side and continual improvement on digital-only," Martin A. Nisenholtz, chief executive officer of New York Times Digital, told Wall Street analysts during a conference call Thursday afternoon.

Real estate continues double-digit increases for the quarter and year-to-date on the online side, along with automotive, with a 62 percent rise in the third quarter and a 48 percent increase so far this year.

"We continue to see robust growth on the online side of the classifieds, across the board and increasingly on the digital-only side," Nisenholtz said.

--Paul Gough