As he introduced the new INMA Subscription Masters Webinar series on Wednesday, Readers First Initiative lead Greg Piechota also provided attendees with an overview of the state of newspaper subscriptions worldwide.

The industry’s business model has changed in recent years, with subscriptions emerging as the dominant revenue model for publishers worldwide. Piechota shared that in 2023, for the first time, subscriptions accounted for nearly half (49%) of total revenue for media companies, surpassing advertising (40%) and other revenue streams (11%).

“When we look more broadly into the media sector — meaning Web sites, newspapers, books, TV, cinema, music, or games — consumers are funding two-thirds of it because they pay for content,” he said.

“It’s pretty clear that both consumers and media firms prefer subscriptions: 83% of paid content revenue is coming from subscriptions,” while just a few sectors, including movies and books, still see customers buying single items.

The rise of digital subscriptions

Over the past five years, Piechota said, digital subscription growth has been steady and linear. Data collected from 264 news brands worldwide shows the median news publisher saw an 11% increase in digital subscribers in 2023. This trend underscores a growing consumer willingness to support quality journalism through recurring payments.

Not surprisingly, this lift is counterbalanced by a steady decline in print subscriptions, which fell by 9% last year. When considering all paid subscriptions — both digital and print — the industry saw an overall decline of 2% in total numbers in 2023.

Effective subscription strategies

But some companies have had success in growing their subscription bases and maximising revenue. Piechota pointed to The New York Times, which has some of the most effective subscription strategies in the industry.

Other news companies are now adopting some of its practices, such as offering a low-priced subscription that lowers the risk for the customer and gives the publisher time to engage new subscribers. Then, based on their engagement, the publisher can decide whether to increase prices after the trial ends; implementing gradual price hikes after long introductory periods can ensure users are invested in the experience before higher fees take effect.

While offering long, low-cost trial periods may seem risky, Piechota said the data suggests that this strategy accelerates subscription growth and ultimately drives higher revenues. In 2023, the publishers that grew their subscription volumes the fastest also saw the highest revenue growth.

Bundling is another successful tactic for the Times, Piechota said: “Almost 50% of all digital subscribers of The New York Times today don’t subscribe to a single product such as news but subscribed to a bundle of news and cooking and recipes and games and many other things.”

Now, other publishers have adopted this approach as well.

For instance, Amedia, a local publisher in Norway, successfully implemented a bundled subscription model inspired by The New York Times’ approach. Within two years, half of its subscribers had upgraded to the bundle, leading to:

• A 76% increase in subscription revenue from these users.
• A 137-month increase in subscriber lifetime due to lower churn rates.
• A 75% adoption rate amongst all digital subscribers.

The rise of smart paywall models

Another significant development in the subscription economy has been the proliferation of smart hybrid paywall models that dynamically adjust access based on user behaviour, allowing publishers to personalise the paywall experience.

Piechota said that, over the past five years, such models have increased fourfold, with 22% of news organisations now using hybrid paywalls. Additionally, 38% of media companies plan to transition to hybrid models in the near future due to their effectiveness in driving revenue growth.

“Those brands [with] these kinds of hybrid models grow the revenue the fastest,” Piechota said. “When we talk about personalised pricing, this is increasingly popular.” He said it is “very advanced” in the United States, with increasing adoption in Western Europe and beyond.

Hybrid paywalls offer a flexible mix of free and premium content, ensuring casual readers can still engage while encouraging loyal users to subscribe.

Room to grow

Despite the gradual progress being made in digital subscriptions, penetration rates remain low. The median national news brand worldwide reaches fewer than 1% of households with digital subscriptions; even the most successful brands, such as The New York Times and The New Zealand Herald, have penetration rates of less than 10%.

In fact, the highest penetration rate recorded was for Delfi in Estonia, which reached 18% of households. But these low numbers are good news for the industry, Piechota said.

“What it all means for us is, this is early market development. There is no ceiling ahead of you,” he pointed out. “So now we need to really talk about how do we accelerate the growth?”

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