Never-ending niches

Ben Thompson argues that the Internet's abundance of reach and content has shifted media competition toward focus and quality within niches, and that the New York Times has succeeded by delivering high quality to its audience. He notes that between 1910 and 1930 the average household bought 3.1 newspapers a day, and that newspaper circulation per household fell from 1.4 in 1949 to less than 0.4 in 2010, according to Robert Gordon's book. The New York Times's 2003 annual report set out a strategy to extend its reach into every city, town and village, and the Internet accomplished that. Thompson says that because quality is relatively binary while niches are effectively infinite, success depends on delivering superior quality in one's niche.