WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP
1. New York Time reaches 7m digital subscribers – Nieman Lab
New York Times’ total count of subscriptions passed 7 million for the first time last month. Recently, the paper announced that their revenues from digital subscriptions had surpassed that of the print edition.
“It took the Times more than four years from the launch of its digital paywall to hit 2 million subscribers total. Now that’s one year’s haul.”
2. Gannett posts revenue decline but tops 1 million digital subscriptions in third quarter – USA Today
Gannett, the publisher of more than 260 newspapers (including USA Today), reported a loss of $31.3 million in the third quarter. Nevertheless, its stock rose more than 20 percent, since Gannett announced that they have reached more than 1m digital subscribers across its titles.
“Nearly a year after completing a major media merger, USA TODAY owner Gannett is betting on paid digital subscriptions to deliver revenue growth while using cost cuts to offset its declining print business and the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.”
3. The transition to digital newspapers will accelerate in Sweden – Mediavision
Print magazines have a higher churn than digital subscriptions, while the purchase intent is greater for the latter, writes Mediavision. 13 percent of Sweden’s households now subscribe digitally to a newspaper, a figure that is expected to increase in the next 12 months.
“Digital newspaper subscriptions (i e without a print copy) have grown quickly in 2020, reflecting both an eventful year and a general push from the industry. Households’ willingness to pay for digital newspapers is also increasing.”
4. News Corp’s publications increase subscription revenues – Media Post
News Corp made a profit of $34 million, with growth in circulation and subscription revenue in the Dow Jones & Company unit that publishes The Wall Street Journal et al, even though total revenues shrank by 9.5%.
“The Wall Street Journal had more than 2.35 million digital subscribers in the quarter. That’s up from about 2.2 million in the previous quarter. The Journal had a total of 3.1 million subscribers in Q1 fiscal 2021.”
