Greg, the New York Times is a little different in that half of its readers, and practically all of its growth, is outside the NYC metro. This is part of the paper’s decade-old push to become the national newspaper, not a widely read New York newspaper. The Post outsells the Times in the city.

In the case of the Times, I suspect going truly national (and global) was a prudent move. The New York Times isn’t a newspaper with a readership based on geography; it’s a media brand with an audience based on caste. You’d think that would have put the Times years ahead of everybody else on going digital, but they haven’t been as smart about it as the Wall Street Journal and some others. If the Times can figure out a really good way to deliver online advertising with a value at least equivalent to print — and I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re the ones who crack that nut — they could convert themselves into a hugely profitable online-only publication, basically overnight.