News avoidance is “not a business problem” for news organisations to grow subscriptions, according to INMA’s Greg Piechota. 

During the INMA World Congress of News Media in London, the researcher-in-residence and Readers First Initiative lead said this is one of three common myths about attracting and retaining a loyal audience of subscribers to digital news products.

“This is a problem for governments and civil society, not a business problem for marketers,” he said. “They are not interested in politics or voting. People avoiding the news are not the people you target your subscriptions to.” 

Piechota shared data indicating news avoiders in the United States are “less educated, poorer, and disinterested in politics.” A typical news-avoider household would earn an estimated US$31,000 per year, significantly lower than news-loving households, which are estimated to earn US$65,000 annually. 

Myths about subscriptions

Piechota also said the idea that publishers “hit a ceiling” and cannot grow subscriptions anymore is false according to figures on the market penetration of national news brands worldwide.

A median penetration rate of 0.9% in 2023 compared to just 0.2% in 2019 shows how digital-only subscription rates have quadrupled across the world.

Additionally, there are no signs of “subscription fatigue” in the news either. According to the 2024 INMA Benchmarks report sampling 234 news brands internationally, the total number of digital-only news subscribers increased by 173% median volume in 2023 compared to 2019.

Piechota attributed this to the “cyclone tactic,” where consumers are converted and then engaged with more products, as opposed to the other way around, as is seen traditionally in other industries. 

“You need to give them a very attractive price, so the decision is easy, then a long enough trial to begin engagement and explain your products and why they work,” he said. “If they see value over time, they can accept a higher price.”

Offering personalised prices after this initial trial leads to high engagement amongst subscribers. And for long-time subscribers, this links to lower price sensitivity as long as consumers continue to see the value of your journalism. 

Online subscription volume or revenue growth?

News organisations often make a strategic decision about prioritising online subscription volume or revenue growth, but Piechota promised, “You can have your cake and eat it, too.”

He shared an example of The New York Times, where around 44% of its 9.7 million digital-only subscribers upgraded to bundled products. 

Bundling helps grow both volume and revenue, as the “cyclone tactic” sees loyal customers accept a price increase for new products to be added to their subscriptions, which creates a richer experience overall as there is “good justification for upgrading.”

Piechota revealed how digitisation of the news had impacted The New York Times, as an “un-bundling” of the publication occurred from the newspaper and Web era of the 1980s and 1990s through to the social media era of the 2000s to cut down its news content.

But since the 2010s, the “great re-bundling” has seen new subscriptions introduced by The New York Times with additional lifestyle and entertainment apps and eventually an “All Access” bundle to offer a breadth of choice in news content for their customers to access. 

European publishing groups Amedia, Bonnier, DPG Media, Mediahuis, Ringier Axel Springer, and Schibsted reflect this growing marketing trend to boost subscription value, as they have a median of 11 products available between them in “super bundle” packages.

Looking to the future

Piechota believes AI will help to curate personalised news media in the future. 

“AI enables customisation of production, curation and distribution of media content at scale,” he said. “Personalised news media is available today thanks to predictive AI but is only offered through mass production.” 

Using generative AI can narrow the curation and production of news customers want to consume, so there is both a high content customisation and personalised curation.

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