News publishers that packaged multiple newspapers, magazines, and apps into super bundles report impressive conversion rates from subscribers — but struggle to keep them.

This is based on interviews with executives and presentations of the world’s digital subscription bundling leaders, such as Amedia, Bonnier, DPG Media, Mediahuis, Ringier Axel Springer, Schibsted, and The New York Times.

For example, Bonnier’s Alexander Lydecker and Schibsted’s Tor Jacobsen spoke at the 2024 INMA Media Subscriptions Summit in New York in February. Amedia’s Gustaf Eriksson presented at the annual event of the Swedish Publishers’ Association in March.

Bundling multiple products and services is enabling top news publishers to address more user needs, increase revenue per subscriber, reduce churn, and potentially attract new customers. This approach mirrors the evolution of print newspapers in the 20th century.

Bundling up beyond news

Since the 2010s, The New York Times and other leading brands have been rapidly expanding their subscription offerings beyond just news to include games, lifestyle content, audio, and more. In 2020, The Times packaged its products as the “All Access” bundle.

As of the end of 2023, The Times’ bundle has driven 44% of their 9.7 million digital-only subscribers. Bundle customers generate, on average, US$12.13 in monthly revenue per user (ARPU), compared to US$10.38 for the news-only subscribers.

My review of the basic offers of the top 50 news brands in autumn 2023 found that almost all added non-news features, although most integrated the new benefits into news products rather than packaging standalone products.

In 2022, European publishing groups like Bonnier and Schibsted have launched “super bundles” with up to 100+ products spanning national and local news brands, podcasts, video streaming, language courses, ad-free experiences, and family plans.

Up to 53% of mature subscription brands’ customer bases are ready to upgrade to bundles, per publishers’ data that INMA reviewed. 

Other findings: 

• The results are best when readers have opposite preferences for items in a bundle, e.g., politics and sports, or local and national news.

• Users of multiple products are more engaged than single-product users, and they churn less (if they actually use those bundled products).

• Bundle customers pay extra and generate higher ARPU. As bundles package products that already existed, most of the extra revenue contributes to profits.

Minimum viable bundles

Publishers admit though that many early bundle adopters are churning due to poor product-market fit — readers liked the idea of access to multiple products, but they could not find the content so they did not use it as expected.

The reason is the publishers offered their bundles as minimum viable products, with an e-mail newsletter as the only channel to curate content across brands. 

As publishers have seen impressive take rates, they are now improving the experience — adding buttons, boxes, and other cross-site recommendation mechanisms to their apps and Web sites.

Some publishers launched dedicated aggregator sites or apps.

Historical context

Bundling has long been a successful strategy in the media industry.

Print newspapers in the 20th century evolved from pure news products to include lifestyle and entertainment sections and more. 

A 1987 survey found that after local and national news, some of the most popular content in U.S. newspapers included sports, comics, advice columns, and crosswords.

Digital news bundles seem to be following a similar trajectory, expanding from core news products to encompass games, cooking, audio, product recommendations, and sports verticals.

Getting the product, technology, and organisational capabilities in place is key. Publishers that launch super bundles need to align or centralise brand and product management, and integrate tech stacks to allow single log-in and CRM.

Future of news subscription bundles

AI could be a game-changer in enabling truly personalised “Spotify for news” experiences.

Today, most publishers rely on mass curation and production to serve their audiences. Predictive AI enables greater personalisation of content feeds and recommendations, similarly to features users fallen in love with in Spotify or Netflix apps.

Based on surveys, 40% of music streaming users listen to playlists curated by algorithms, editors, or other listeners. Only 8% prefer to listen to albums as intended by music creators and publishers.

In the near future, generative AI could allow the creation of fully personalised content bundles tailored to each individual user's interests and preferences.

However, most news publishers are still in the early stages of building out their subscription offerings. 

Greg’s Readers First newsletter is a public face of a revenue and media subscriptions initiative by INMA, outlined here. INMA members may subscribe here.

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