How Important Is Video to the Time Subscription Strategy?

Peruse through the vast video archive at The New York Times, and you’ll come across plenty of your standard short documentary films, the kinds with voiceover, b-roll footage, and original interviews. But you’ll also encounter some experimental fare. There’s the fake infomercial advertising a phone hotline for racists. There’s an entire animated series geared toward parents. And then there’s the ongoing series, called Diary of a Song, which uses a mixture of low quality Skype footage and animation to walk the viewer through how a hit song was made.

Overseeing much of this production is Nancy Gauss, executive director of video at The New York Times. I recently interviewed Gauss about her team’s approach to video creation and how it fits in with The Times’s larger goals in driving brand loyalty and paid subscriptions.