The New York Times Company Reports July Ad Revenue and Volume for Its Newspaper Group.

Business Editors

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Aug. 19, 2003

The New York Times Company announced today that advertising revenue for the Company's Newspaper Group in July 2003 increased 0.2% compared with the results for the same month last year.

Including the results

Advertising results for July were as follows:

-- The New York Times

Advertising revenue for The New York Times, excluding the IHT, was on a par with the results for the same month last year. National advertising revenue was also on a par with last year as strength in the telecommunications, banking, alcoholic beverages and transportation categories offset softness in hotel and corporate advertising. Retail advertising rose on growth in mass market/chain store advertising. Classified advertising revenue decreased as a result of weakness in help-wanted and automotive advertising, which offset growth in real estate advertising. Preprint volume declined 17.8% in July compared with the same month last year when advertising from The Wiz was strong, but preprint revenue decreased only slightly.

-- New England Newspaper Group

Advertising revenue for the New England Newspaper Group decreased 1.9% for July 2003 compared with July 2002. National advertising revenue declined largely due to weakness in national automotive and travel advertising, which offset growth in telecommunications and technology advertising. Retail advertising revenue decreased because of softness in department store, home-related store, services and apparel/accessories advertising. Classified advertising revenue was on a par with last year as gains in real estate and automotive advertising offset continued softness in the help-wanted category.

-- Regional Newspaper Group

Advertising revenue for the Regional Newspaper Group increased 3.2% for July 2003 compared with July 2002. National advertising revenue increased as a result of additional telecommunications and national automotive advertising. Preprint revenue rose on growth in both retail and national preprints. Retail advertising revenue was on a par with last year as increases in the home improvement, telecommunications and food categories offset softness in department store, appliance store and medical advertising. Classified advertising revenue was also flat with last year as strength in real estate and automotive advertising offset softness in help-wanted advertising.

The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2002 revenues of $3.1 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 16 other newspapers, eight network-affiliated television stations, two New York City radio stations and more than 40 Web sites, including NYTimes.com and Boston.com. For the third consecutive year, the Company was ranked No. 1 in the publishing industry in Fortune's 2002 list of America's Most Admired Companies. In 2003 the Company was named by Fortune as one of the 100 Best Companies to Work For. The Company's core purpose is to enhance society by creating, collecting and distributing high-quality news, information and entertainment.

This press release can be downloaded from www.nytco.com

                      THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY
                     2003 ADVERTISING REVENUE (a)
                        JULY AND YEAR TO DATE

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Newspaper Group
Total Advertising Revenue
($ 000's)

                        July                      Year to Date
                ------------------------ -----------------------------
                                       %                            %
                                      --                           --
                    2003     2002 Change      2003       2002  Change
                -------- -------- ------ ---------- ---------- ------
The New
 York Times      $80,197  $80,204  0.0    $630,539   $616,011   +2.4
New England
 Newspapers(b)    36,197   36,885  1.9     256,492    253,513   +1.2
Regional
 Newspapers       30,196   29,268  3.2     193,841    190,021   +2.0
                -------- --------       ---------- ----------
Sub-Total       $146,590 $146,358  0.2  $1,080,872 $1,059,546   +2.0
                -------- --------       ---------- ----------
International
 Herald
 Tribune(c)        2,172      N/A  N/A      17,996        N/A    N/A
Total
 Newspaper
 Group          $148,762 $146,358  1.6  $1,098,867 $1,059,546   +3.7
                ======== ========       ========== ==========
----------------------------------------------------------------------

(a) Numbers may not add due to rounding.

(b) The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

(c) On January 1, 2003, The Times Company, which had owned 50% of the
    IHT, became its sole owner. Accordingly, advertising revenue of
    the IHT is included in the results of the Newspaper Group. Based
    on full-year 2002 unaudited financial statements, IHT total
    revenues were approximately $80 million, about half of which were
    advertising revenue.


                      THE NEW YORK TIMES COMPANY
                      2003 ADVERTISING VOLUME(1)
       (Inches in thousands, Preprints in thousands of copies)
                        JULY AND YEAR TO DATE

----------------------------------------------------------------------
The New York Times(2)

                   July                    Year to Date
           -------------------------- ----------------------------
              2003     2002  % Change     2003     2002  % Change
           -------- -------- -------- --------- -------- ---------
Retail        23.8     25.8      -7.6    210.8    226.2      -6.8
National      91.1     96.0      -5.2    742.9    759.9      -2.2
Classified    56.7     63.1     -10.1    389.9    423.0      -7.8
           -------- --------           -------- --------
Total ROP    171.6    184.9      -7.2  1,343.6  1,409.1      -4.6
           -------- --------           -------- --------

Part Run/
 Zoned        58.4     59.9      -2.5    480.1    507.6      -5.4
           -------- --------           -------- --------
Total        230.0    244.8      -6.1  1,823.7  1,916.8      -4.9
           ======== ========           ======== ========

Preprints   37,977   46,219     -17.8  278,984  287,669      -3.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
New England Newspaper Group(3)

                   July                    Year to Date
           -------------------------- ----------------------------
              2003     2002  % Change     2003     2002  % Change
           -------- -------- -------- --------- -------- ---------
Retail        53.3     59.8     -10.9    424.2    456.0      -7.0
National      57.0     65.9     -13.5    431.4    468.7      -8.0
Classified   142.9    146.7      -2.6    930.9    953.2      -2.3
           -------- --------           -------- --------
Total ROP    253.2    272.4      -7.1  1,786.4  1,877.9      -4.9
           -------- --------           -------- --------

Part Run/
 Zoned       106.8    104.8      +1.9    737.0    606.0     +21.6
           -------- --------           -------- --------
Total        360.1    377.3      -4.6  2,523.4  2,483.9      +1.6
           ======== ========           ======== ========

Preprints   86,315   84,800      +1.8  592,722  546,358      +8.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Regional Newspaper Group

                   July                    Year to Date
           -------------------------- ----------------------------
              2003     2002  % Change     2003     2002  % Change
           -------- -------- -------- --------- -------- ---------
Retail       481.8    501.8      -4.0  3,135.4  3,271.9      -4.2
National      26.2     19.2     +36.5    187.1    134.1     +39.5
Classified   716.9    709.8      +1.0  4,355.0  4,254.0      +2.4
Legal         30.7     30.4      +0.9    254.0    274.6      -7.5
           -------- --------           -------- --------
Total      1,255.7  1,261.3      -0.4  7,931.4  7,934.5       0.0
           ======== ========           ======== ========

Preprints   97,413   97,800      -0.4  687,945  635,155      +8.3
----------------------------------------------------------------------

International Herald Tribune (IHT)(4): For July linage was 8,107
inches and for the YTD, linage was 62,883 inches.


  Footnotes:
  ----------

1 Advertising volume is based on preliminary internal data, which may
  be updated in subsequent reports and may not be indicative of
  advertising revenue or operating profit. Numbers may not add due
  to rounding.


2 The New York Times sells advertising by category.  It defines
  Retail, National and Classified as follows:

    Retail - Coupon Advertising, Department Stores, Fashion/Jewelry
    Stores, Fine Arts, Home Furnishings Stores, Mass Market Stores and
    Restaurants

    National - Advocacy, Alcoholic Beverages, American Fashion,
    Banking, Books, Corporate, Cosmetics, Direct Response, Education,
    Entertainment, Financial, Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals, Home
    Furnishing Manufacturers, Hotels/Resorts, International Country
    Advertorial, International Fashion, Live Entertainment, Media,
    Packaged Goods, Technology Products, Telecommunications and
    Transportation/Travel

    Classified - Automotive, Help Wanted, Real Estate and General

Zoned - The New York Times also offers advertisers multiple zoned
buying options primarily in its New York metropolitan market. This
includes Retail, National or Classified advertising that is purchased
by zip code or by a defined geographic area (Connecticut/Westchester,
Long Island, Manhattan or New Jersey).

3 The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette.

4 On January 1, 2003, The New York Times Company, which had owned 50%
  of the IHT, became its sole owner. Accordingly, advertising
  revenue of the IHT is included in the results of the Newspaper
  Group. Based on full-year 2002 unaudited financial statements, IHT
  total revenues were approximately $80 million, about half of which
  were advertising revenue.