The New York Times is launching its first TV news show on FX and Hulu

This is an excerpt from a story delivered exclusively to Business Insider Intelligence Digital Media Briefing subscribers. To receive the full story plus other insights each morning, click here.The New York Times is launching its first original TV series, a docuseries called “The Weekly,” which will premiere June 2 on FX and stream exclusively on Hulu the following day, per The New York Times. Episodes are 30 minutes each, and will follow 1,600 Times reporters as they investigate a story, providing viewers with an in-depth look at the journalistic process. Here's what it means: The show represents the Times' latest strategic expansion as it continues to innovate news distribution for the digital era — but is its first episodic TV project.The Times is pushing content in every area possible as it moves to increase its distribution reach by diversifying across mediums. The publisher is pulling out all the stops to meet people where they want to receive content. For one, it has successfully transitioned its subscription news product to digital: 78% of the Times' 4.5 million paid subscriptions now come from digital products.And The Times has also done well with podcasting — it runs the No. 1 podcast in the US, “The Daily,” from which the concept behind “The Weekly” spun off. These efforts have, in part, allowed the Times to grow revenue as legacy media and digital-first pubs alike are floundering. In fact, the publisher is on pace to hit its $800 million digital revenue goal by 2020, which it set for itself in 2015.The Weekly is an opportunity for The Times to not only generate a new revenue stream, but also to reach audiences that it wouldn't otherwise via print, web, or podcasts. Selling exclusive streaming rights to Hulu — and airing on ad-supported cable via FX — situates “The Weekly” within the Disney machine, which is arguably the only company with the potential to equal Netflix in the streaming space. That will position the show well to find an audience beyond the publisher's existing subscribers, potentially pulling more people into the Times' range of products.The bigger picture: The Times' foray into television follows a trend we've been seeing of publishers striking streaming deals to generate alternative revenue streams as ad sales decline.We believe such diversification will be increasingly necessary as the duopoly — and now Amazon too — continues hoovering up digital ad dollars. It's becoming increasingly necessary for publishers to juggle several different revenue streams to stay afloat, as ad dollars are hard to come by, and subscriptions remain most viable for the already-succesful, like The Wall Street Journal — or The Times.Pushing out valuable journalism across different formats can drum up new direct revenue through licensing deals and ad sales, attract new audiences, and even renew the public's faith in the integrity of journalism, according to assistant managing editor of the Times Sam Dolnick.As a leader of “The Weekly”'s production, Dolnick said that a major impetus behind the show is to reshape the way people view stories and the reporters who tell them. By showing the entirety of the process, “how publishers get the story and...get it right” the docuseries — and others like it — could improve public perception of the value of news. Here's a roundup of some significant moves publishers have made utilizing video to get their messages across: Vox Entertainment, Vox Media's video production division, is increasingly producing long-form shows to sell to outlets like Netflix (“Explained”) and CNN (“American Style”).Vice Media, through its own production division Vice Studios US, is also set to drastically ramp up the number of TV shows — both scripted and unscripted — as well as feature films produced for buyers including Netflix, Amazon, and HBO: The studio has had four shows premiere this year, and has another 15 underway.Refinery29 outlined an extensive strategy to grow its revenue, and video is arguably the main pillar. The publisher has sold 17 video series since the fall, and has 28 more in production, which it hopes to sell to the likes of Amazon, Netflix and even Jeffrey Katzenberg's forthcoming short-form mobile video venture, Quibi.Interested in getting the full story？ Here are two ways to get access: 1. Sign up for the Digital Media Briefing to get it delivered to your inbox 6x a week. >> Get Started2. Subscribe to a Premium pass to Business Insider Intelligence and gain immediate access to the Digital Media Briefing, plus more than 250 other expertly researched reports. As an added bonus, you'll also gain access to all future reports and daily newsletters to ensure you stay ahead of the curve and benefit personally and professionally. >>Learn More Now