The New York Times crafts personality-led video in Cooking push to drive subs

The New York Times’ Cooking vertical has debuted a new baking video series and newsletter franchise led by supervising producer Vaughn Vreeland, making the featured recipes free to access as part of a push to attract younger audiences into its subscription funnel.

Although the Times plans to monetize the videos and newsletters with ads (there isn’t a launch sponsor), the tactic is ultimately part of the Times’ subscriber acquisition strategy. 

The Times has long experimented with loosening its paywall around certain news events – like its COVID-19 coverage in March 2020 and presidential elections. Now it’s applying that same playbook to Cooking, aiming to use recipes and food content more strategically as a subscription driver for new and younger audiences.

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