NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The New York Times is unveiling enhancements to its popular online Theater section. NYTimes.com/Theater now offers prominent placement of reviews, easily accessible Critics’ Picks, a “Show Tuner” interactive tool and revised Theater listings pages.
"We’ve tried to make the Theater section a more useful and appealing place for readers, whether they are occasional theatergoers or committed buffs,” said Jonathan Landman, culture editor for The New York Times. “We’ve learned over the years that people use our reviews, articles and multimedia to guide their ticket-buying choices, and we’ve reorganized our material with that in mind."
Key enhancements, some of which will launch in the coming weeks, include:
- A unique “Show Tuner” tool that helps users find shows that match their preferences. Users can refine results by mood (dark or light), style (traditional or experimental) or audience (for children or for adults). All results can be filtered to show musicals, plays or both. The tool will appear on every review and listings page and uses input from The New York Times’s critics, including Ben Brantley and Charles Isherwood.
- Completely revised listings pages with the following new categories: Musicals, Plays, Family Friendly, All Show Reviews, Last Chance and Recently Opened. For each category, users can filter the lists by selecting different criteria such as Critics’ Picks.
- Enhanced search and navigation – Improved navigation and search tools appear throughout the section. Additional search features will be added in the coming months.
- More video content including a “Theater” channel for news features and a “Broadway Previews” channel launching early next year. “Broadway Previews” will be populated with videos from The Broadway Channel™, a media company that distributes theater-related video and television programming. The Broadway Channel will provide exclusive preview videos from leading Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, and those videos will be available with each show review.
- Enhanced Theater reviews – Early next year, Theater reviews will feature logistical information about each show including running time, closing date and a Buy Tickets link.
- New TicketWatch deal offerings – Also early next year, the Theater section will integrate TicketWatch deals in order to offer improved ticket purchasing options to our audience.
“Book of Mormon,” “Jersey Boys,” “War Horse,” “Other Desert Cities” and “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” are charter advertisers for the relaunch of the online Theater section.
The redesigned Theater section builds upon recent improvements to the online Arts section, such as the Arts & Entertainment Guide, a searchable database of noteworthy cultural events for the coming week in the New York City area. In addition to theater shows, the Guide includes event details for Arts, Classical and Opera, Dance, Jazz, and Pop and Rock, among other categories.
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The New York Times Company (NYSE: NYT), a leading media company with 2010 revenues of $2.4 billion, includes The New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, The Boston Globe, 15 other daily newspapers and more than 50 Web sites, including NYTimes.com, BostonGlobe.com, Boston.com and About.com. 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.