Boston Globe Up For Sale By New York Times

The Boston Globe is for sale. The New York Times made the announcement on Wednesday according toBloomberg. The Times also added that the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Boston.com, and the remainder of the New England Media Group are also for sale.

The Times Company bought the Boston Globe for over $1 billion in 1993, but in recent years has begun divesting itself of all non-Times related properties, including its stake in Fenway Sports Group, the owners of the Boston Red Sox and 16 regional newspapers.

The Boston Globe sale is blamed on simple economics. The newspaper industry as a whole is struggling, with both ad sales and circulation dropping as readers increasingly turn to digital alternatives. As a reflection of changing times, The Globe’s digital subscriptions rose by 8% in the fourth quarter of 2012.

TheNew York Times now makes more money from subscriptions than ad sales, while the reverse is true for TheGlobe.

According to TheNew York Times, Times Company CEO Mark Thompson said The Globe and Worcester Telegram & Gazette are “outstanding” papers but that the company wants to focus its time and investments on the New York Times brand. The plan is for the papers to be sold at auction.

The future of the newspaper industry appears to be a digital one and their success depends on how willing they are to adapt. The New York Times has an excellent digital product. I’ve been a subscriber for years. I also subscribe to several other newspapers’ digital editions but no paper versions.

How about you? Do you still get a daily paper, prefer digital, or none at all? Do you think newspapers still have a place in the news cycle?