Digital subscriptions have transformed the economics and culture of news media companies worldwide. This week, the INMA will bring industry leaders together in Toronto to examine what comes next.

The 2026 INMA Media Subscriptions Summit Week will bring global media executives to Canada for five days of study tours, strategic discussions, and practical seminars focused on growing reader revenue in a rapidly evolving media landscape.

The programme is designed as an immersive week rather than a traditional conference. It begins with a two-day study tour of innovative media organisations, followed by a two-day summit featuring keynotes and case studies, and concludes with a day of specialised seminars aimed at translating ideas into practical strategies.

Across the week, executives will examine how news organisations are reinventing the subscription funnel at a time when AI, creator economies, and changing audience habits are reshaping how journalism is produced, distributed, and monetised. 

The week’s programme is curated by INMA Readers First Initiative Lead Greg Piechota, whose work with news publishers around the world focuses on helping news organisations build sustainable digital subscription businesses. 

Inside Canada’s most innovative newsrooms

The week opens with a two-day study tour that takes participants inside some of Canada’s most forward-thinking news organisations.

The study tour is designed to show how subscription strategies are executed in practice, from audience engagement and loyalty to newsroom culture and data-driven decision-making.

• Participants will visit The Globe and Mail, where executives will explore one of Canada’s most closely watched subscription businesses and discuss how the organisation aligns editorial, product, data, and commercial teams around reader revenue.
• The tour continues at The Walrus, a mission-driven publication that combines journalism, events, and community engagement to build strong audience loyalty.
• Another stop is The Green Line, a Toronto-based newsroom focused on local reporting and community engagement, particularly with younger audiences.
• Participants will also visit Toronto Metropolitan University, where journalism education and innovation initiatives offer insight into emerging technologies and new approaches to storytelling and media entrepreneurship.
• The study tour then moves to CBC/Radio-Canada to examine how Canada’s national public broadcaster builds daily audience habits across a broad national audience.
• The final stop is the Toronto Star, where participants will explore how one of Canada’s largest news organisations approaches digital subscriptions, data, and newsroom collaboration.

Together, the visits provide a cross-section of Canada’s media ecosystem, offering participants a practical look at how different organisations are experimenting with audience engagement and subscription growth.

A summit focused on the next stage of subscription growth

Following the study tour, the programme moves into the two-day summit, where news executives will hear from industry leaders sharing lessons from their subscription journeys.

The summit is curated by Greg Piechota, Readers First Initiative Lead at INMA, whose work with publishers around the world focuses on helping news organisations build sustainable reader-revenue businesses.

The programme opens with perspectives on Canada’s media environment from Paul Deegan, president and CEO of News Media Canada. Piechota will also present the session “State of news subscriptions 2026: Slower growth, stronger fundamentals,” offering a global overview of how subscription growth is evolving as the industry moves into a more mature phase of reader revenue.

The summit looks beyond news media for lessons about audience loyalty and membership. Jessica Sibley, chief executive officer of TIME, will share insights on the membership economy and what news organisations can learn from other industries about building long-term relationships with audiences.

Other sessions examine how publishers are reshaping the subscription funnel. In “Audience funnels reimagined: Humans, superfans, and machines,” speakers will explore how audience engagement, community relationships, and technology are transforming how publishers attract and retain subscribers.

Case studies will also examine how publishers scale paid journalism. In “From portal to platform: How Onet built paid journalism at scale,” leaders from the Polish media company will share how the organisation developed a large subscription business and expanded its premium offerings.

The summit concludes with a forward-looking keynote titled “A letter to myself and to you from 2030,” reflecting on how the news media industry may evolve in the years ahead and what publishers must do now to prepare for that future.

Turning strategy into action

The final day of the week shifts from strategy to practical application through a series of topic-specific seminars.

Participants will choose from focused breakout sessions exploring the future of paywalls, data-driven subscription strategies, smart pricing and bundling, personalisation and engagement, and subscriber retention and churn management.

The seminars are designed to help news executives translate ideas from the study tour and summit into practical strategies they can apply within their own organisations.

Through expert-led discussions and peer exchange, participants will explore how publishers are refining conversion strategies, strengthening subscriber relationships, and building more sustainable reader-revenue models.

Reinventing the subscription funnel

The week’s overarching theme — “Reinventing the funnel: A new agenda for subscription growth in the AI and creator era of media” — reflects a broader shift in how news organisations approach reader revenue.

As the digital subscription model matures, the industry is moving beyond simple acquisition strategies to focus more deeply on engagement, loyalty, and long-term value.

This requires integrating editorial, product, marketing, and data teams around shared goals. It also requires adapting to an environment shaped by artificial intelligence, new distribution channels, and audiences that increasingly interact with journalism in different ways.

INMA’s Media Subscriptions Summit Week aims to address those challenges by combining real-world case studies, strategic insights, and practical tools.

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