Rewrites throughout; adds shares, adds CEO comment in paragraph 7, details in paragraphs 8 to 11

Feb 5 (Reuters) - The New York Times NYT.N forecast first-quarter subscription revenue growth below estimates on Wednesday, signaling intense competition for new readers in what will be a busy year for the media industry, sending its shares down 9% in early trading.

The forecast followed weaker-than-expected growth in digital-only subscribers in the fourth quarter of 2024, a crucial period for the news sector because of the Nov. 5 U.S. presidential election, which typically boosts media engagement.

Long the beacon for news organizations in the digital age, the Times has started facing more competition in recent months after major media outlets including CNN and The Verge rolled out paid subscriptions in a crowded market.

NYT expects subscription revenue growth of 7% to 10% in the current quarter, the midpoint of which was below analysts' estimate of 9.9%, according to Visible Alpha.

But its quarterly forecast for growth in digital-only subscription revenues of 14% to 17% was above estimates of 13.6%, a sign that ongoing weakness in print subscriptions was a big drag on the overall forecast.

Sticky inflation has also made it harder for NYT to drive growth through a strategy of bundling its core news offerings with lifestyle-focused products such as Wirecutter, sports website The Athletic and games including Wordle.

To make up for that, the Times has a pipeline of new content including shows, games and features that it will launch this year to woo users, CEO Meredith Kopit Levien said. "We'll focus on making each of our products more valuable to more people."

The Times added 350,000 digital-only subscribers in the quarter, higher than the 260,000 in the prior quarter, but below Visible Alpha estimates of 417,500 additions.

It had 11.43 million total subscribers as of end-2024.

Its digital advertising revenue grew 9.5% in the reported quarter. Overall, revenue was $726.6 million, in line with estimates compiled by LSEG.

Adjusted profit per share of 80 cents beat an estimate of 74 cents.

(Reporting by Jaspreet Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)

((Jaspreet.Singh@thomsonreuters.com; on X @i_jass;))