With online ad income slowing and overall ad sales dropping, The New York Times seeks new distribution and video options to take advantage of increased web traffic.

Visits to NYTimes.com rose 12 percent a year ago, to 42.9 million unique visitors. But it also saw online ad sales rise just 15.6 percent in April, a slowdown from January's 26 percent rise.

At the same time, the NYT is looking for partnerships and new distribution channels to revive the paper as a brand name. Following the launch of a co-branded Monster.com/Boston.com classifieds site the same sort of arrangement is expected to debut on the main New York Times website in June.

A speech at the Streaming Media East conference by SVP for Digital Operations Martin Nisenholtz also signaled a shift in thinking at the company. Instead of focusing on print publishing, Nisenholtz said, the company must think of itself as a platform-agnostic news entity. Being part of the online conversation, he said, is of growing importance.

Niseholtz also said the company has plans to turn its online video offerings into a revenue generator through ads. The hope is to get about $30 million a year from video ads, an ambitious goal but one Niseholtz says is attainable based on past growth rates.

He also announced the creation of a new feature called Video Lounge, which allows advertisers to stream long-form content. Such an outlet would allow the Times to forgo pre-roll spots in favor of what they imagine will be a more engaging and entertaining experience.