WEEKLY NEWS ROUNDUP
1. Digital subscriber growth boosted profits at The Telegraph in 2019 – Press Gazette
Telegraph Media Group says it increased digital subscription revenues by half to £17.8 million in 2019. As of September 8, 2020, The Telegraph has 522,000 subscribers who pay at least £2 per week, up from 363,00 subscribers in December 2018.
“Average net revenue per digital subscriber grew 8% in 2019 to £99.40, which TMG chief executive Nick Hugh said could be attributed to both the volume of subscribers and price.”
2. The Brown Institute’s Local News Lab will incubate open source local news projects like a “smart” paywall – Medium
The Brown Institute for Media Innovation at the Columbia Journalism School is exploring the application of machine learning (ML) and other technologies to support local newsrooms. The first project is developing an open source “smart” paywall that deploys ML.
“[The smart paywall] will help fill a resource gap, in which a handful of large news outlets have this development capacity, but the vast majority of daily newspapers — almost 1,300 — do not.”
3. The Washington Post and Financial Times create joint digital subscription – Mediapost
The Washington Post and Financial Times are teaming up to attract new readers by bundling some of their print and digital subscriptions until October 8.
From [September 15] through October 8, readers who purchase a Washington Post subscription will get three months of the Financial Times included. The bundle subscriptions range from $39 to $49 a year.
4. South Korea’s news outlets chase the digital dream – Nikkei
Studying global peers and leveraging COVID credibility could finally spur online growth for South Korea’s biggest newspapers that have long struggled to monetize online content. Meanwhile, media startups have made headway in attracting paid subscribers by offering unique content.
“One of the most formidable hurdles facing these newspapers can be summed up in one word: Naver. The country’s largest internet company provides news for free, and it has a vast reach — 62% of people in South Korea used Naver’s news the service more than once a week […]”
WEEKLY ANALYSIS ROUNDUP
1. Metro newspapers with strong digital subscriber bases expand beyond their home base – Poynter
After decades of newspaper industry contraction, publications based in Boston, Minneapolis and Charleston are growing to nearby cities, using the strength of their paid digital subscription base.
“Times change and so do business models. It is hardly coincidental that the three most ambitious papers branching out are also top regional performers at building a paid digital subscription base.”
2. How The Atlantic amassed over 300,000 paying subscribers in a year – What’s New in Publishing
The Atlantic launched a new paywall last September. A year down the line, it has more than 300,000 paying subscribers. Now with legacy print subscribers taken into account, it is more than halfway to its goal of 1M subscribers by December 2022.
“I’ve been arguing for a long time that we will be saved as an institution by bearing down on quality, quality, quality.”
3. Platform regulation in Australia is just the start. Facebook and Google are fighting a global battle – The Conversation
Facebook and Google’s publicity campaigns against Australia’s new media regulations show they’re worried other countries will follow suit, writes Australian research fellow James Meese in an analysis.
“France is the most notable example: in April its competition authority ordered Google to pay publishers for news.”
4. Membership, revenue and subscriptions: Insights from TU Media and Die Zeit – What’s New in Publishing
Norwegian niche publisher TU Media and German weekly newspaper Die Zeit might be worlds apart in terms of focus but they share one common success story – effective subscriber strategies
“We want to give employees in tech companies unique insights into new technology and market opportunities and help you do a better job. By promising this and living up to it we made our subscribers consider this a company expense and a lot of them give the bill to their employer.”
