Talking Wordle's future with Jonathan Knight, head of games at The New York Times

Reliable Sources

CNN

News

3.4 • 1.4K Ratings

🗓️ 23 June 2022

⏱️ 36 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What is The New York Times' vision for Wordle and how does the viral hit game fit into the news outlet's broader strategy? Brian Stelter talks about that and more with Jonathan Knight, a senior vice president at The Times. Knight discusses the meteoric rise of the game; why The Times moved quickly to acquire it; and upcoming updates that will protect users' streaks and stats. Games are "intended to give people a bit of a break from the news, which can be a tough read," Knight says. To work on a product that "contributes to the independent journalism that's so important at The New York Times is super rewarding," he adds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	It's a six-letter word for everyone's favorite five-letter word puzzle game.
0:06.2	The viral sensation is now owned by the New York Times, and a lot of people want to know
0:11.4	what the Times plans to do with it.
0:14.7	How does Wordl fit into the news organization's larger strategy?
0:19.5	Will it go behind the subscriber wall?
0:22.2	And who comes up with all the words?
0:25.8	Are a few of the questions for this week's Reliable Sources podcast.
0:29.9	So let's cue the music.
0:31.9	I'm Brian Stelter, and this weekly podcast is our chance to go more in-depth talking with
0:37.9	media leaders and newsmakers about how the media world really works.
0:43.8	And of course, the media world increasingly relies on subscription revenue.
0:48.6	It relies on people paying for the news, and for all the associated apps and sometimes
0:54.5	games that come along with it.
0:57.3	I suppose it's not that different from the print newspaper coming with a crossword.
1:03.0	But now, in this competitive digital age, something like Wordl can make a meaningful difference
1:09.2	for a brand-like the New York Times.
1:11.6	In fact, the Times has said that tens of millions of people are playing Wordl, and that's bringing
1:16.7	some of them more deeply into the New York Times ecosystem.
1:21.4	So to talk about all of this, I sat down with Jonathan Knight, the SVP and Head of Games
1:27.5	at the New York Times.
1:29.5	As you're going to hear, he joined the news outlet almost two years ago, and he had
1:34.0	no idea that Wordl was going to happen.
	...

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