WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP
1. Gannett hires Spotify veteran in push for digital news subscribers – Wall Street Journal
Gannett, the owner of USA Today et al. and the largest publicist in America in terms of circulation has named former Spotify executive Mayur Gupta to the newly created position of chief marketing and strategy officer, a move meant to sharpen the U.S. newspaper chain’s focus on attracting digital subscribers
“Gannett is a collection of individual local markets, with the exception of USA Today, and all local-market publishers have had a more difficult time signing digital subscribers”
2. The Atlantic gained 20,000 subscribers after Trump dismissed it as a ‘dying’ magazine – CNN
President Donald Trump wrote The Atlantic off as a “dying” magazine last week after it published an explosive story about him allegedly disparaging Americans who died in war. The feud seems to have sparked interest among readers in the 163-years old magazine, which acquired 20,000 new subscribers in just one week following the publication.
“The President made light of some restructuring that we did and sort of celebrated the loss of jobs, and I think there were a lot of people that took that as a rallying cry to support journalism”
3. After reaching profitability in 2019, Politico EU aims for 10% revenue growth this year through its subscriptions platform – Digiday
In its sixth year, Politico Europe hit its first year of profitability. Now, it plans to grow revenue between 9% and 11% this year, thanks to enhancing its subscription platform, Politico Pro Intelligence.
“We knew it would be a couple of years of solid, thorough and cohesive investment. We’ve not been destabilized by short-term media results. This is thanks to basic cost discipline.”
4. Apple is preparing to launch a subscription services bundle called ‘Apple One’ that combines news and other services – Daily Mail
Apple One service has been mentioned by the company in app code this week and the US tech giant could confirm the new subscriptions services bundling during its online event next week.
The subscription bundles will let customers sign up for several of the iPhone maker’s digital services at a lower monthly price.
WEEKLY ANALYSIS ROUNDUP
1. Four months after introducing a paywall, El País is now the largest newspaper in Spain in terms of digital subscriptions
64,200 readers have purchased a digital-only subscription to El País, the newspaper of record in Spain, after it introduced a paywall on May 1. That makes it the Spanish publication with the most paid subscribers.
However, El País has not only seen a rise in the number of subscribers, but also in the number of registered readers – the step before subscription and required to access certain articles – with this figure now over three million.
2. How publishers can use “Netflix principles” to build a “forever transaction” with the readers – What’s New in Publishing
Publishers can learn from Netflix how to retain paying subscribers, according to a FIPP seminar that What’s New in Publishing reports on. A simple pricing structure and getting beyond the initial freebies, are two of the principles that are suggested.
“[People] trust your organisation to solve their problem, or achieve their goal, forever. They take off their ‘consumer hat’, don a ‘member hat’ and stop considering alternatives.”
3. “Subscriptions and other diverse revenue sources only set to grow”: How publishers are carving out opportunities from a crisis – What’s New in Publishing
While the surge in new subscriptions peaked in March, it continues to be higher than pre-pandemic levels. This has led more publishers to try out subscriptions, writes What’s New in Publishing in an analysis of the increasing importance of subscriptions.
“What helps is that global publishers like The New York Times (NYT) and The Financial Times have undergone these transformations over the last five odd years and are inspiring beacons for the industry”
