• by Erik Sass , June 21, 2007

The New York Times Company plans to raise the cover price and home delivery cost for its flagship newspaper in July, according to CEO Janet Robinson, who revealed the plans at a meeting with investors on Wednesday.

Robinson predicted the cover price-hike, to $1.25, and the 4% increase in home-delivery subscriptions would produce between $7 million and $8 million in added revenue for 2007, and $14 million to $16 million each year thereafter.

The move is a clear indication of growing pressure to raise revenues, with investors grumbling about falling ad dollars and stagnating share prices. In May, overall revenues fell 5.8%, and ad revenues fell 8.5% compared to the same month last year. The blows fell especially hard on the New York Times Media Group--including the flagship paper, with revenues slipping 9.1% on weakness in national and classified ads.

The company's weak performance in April and May across a variety of categories suggests that the second quarter continues the first-quarter slump. In April, the company's total ad revenues fell 3.6%, compared to the same month in 2006.

With a May growth rate of 21.4% and an April growth rate of 15.6%, Internet ad revenue continues to be a relative bright spot for the company. But it's down from last year's total annual growth rate of 39%, and it's also substantially lower than the 30% forecast for 2007 by Robinson during the company's fourth-quarter/year-end presentation in March.