Summit

6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

Bienvenue | Welcome to the Canada Party at Craft Beer Market Toronto

1 Adelaide Street East

Bienvenue! Kick off the Media Subscriptions Summit with a Canada Party at Craft Beer Market Toronto. Think 100+ beers, high ceilings, downtown views, an easy buzz of conversation, and some Canadian surprises. This is where the night starts strong — a casual yet electric Toronto evening where strangers become friends over a pint (or two). Join fellow guests for great drinks, lively conversation, and the perfect start to a memorable evening in the heart of the city.

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

Registration and welcome coffee at Steam Whistle Brewing Company, Pilsner Hall

Steam Whistle Brewing, The Roundhouse - 255 Bremner Boulevard

Head to the Steam Whistle Brewing, the venue for the Media Subscriptions Summit 2026. Get your registration credentials and settle into the networking lounge for coffee, tea, and snacks. Meet colleagues and connect with INMA speakers and leaders.

8:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.

Welcome and introductions

As INMA brings its flagship Media Subscriptions Summit back to North America, we open the Toronto edition with a warm welcome and a look ahead at the days to come. This session sets the scene for a global conversation about the reinvention of the subscriber funnel in an era shaped by artificial intelligence, creator-led media, and rapidly changing audience expectations. Our hosts will introduce the summit’s narrative arc, speakers, and key questions.

Mark Campbell

President, INMA North America Division, and Chief Marketing Officer, Hearst Newspapers, United States

Idalmy Carrera-Colucci

Summit Co-Moderator and Chief of Staff, Blue Engine Collaborative, United States

Moritz Klein

Summit Co-Moderator and Co-Founder, Zetland, Germany

8:50 a.m. - 9:20 a.m.

Keynote: Canada’s path to consumer-funded journalism

Canada’s news industry sits at a crossroads familiar to publishers worldwide: declining print revenues, intensifying digital competition, platform disruption, and rising expectations from audiences who increasingly fund journalism directly. In this opening keynote, the chief executive of one of Canada’s leading news brands offers a candid assessment of where the country and its media stand today. Drawing on their transformation journey, this session explores what has worked, what remains stubbornly difficult, and how a consumer-funded, digitally distributed model can sustain quality journalism at scale.

Andrew Saunders

President & CEO, The Globe and Mail, Canada

9:20 a.m. - 10.00 a.m.

Keynote: Reinventing audience funnels in the age of content abundance

How people discover content today? In music, a track is first heard in a TikTok, Reel, game, or TV show; then it’s searched on Spotify, Apple Music, or YouTube; and it’s added to a playlist. What happens next? In this keynote, Hannah Poferl, Chief Data Officer at Universal Music Group and formerly Chief Data Officer and Head of News at The New York Times, offers a cross-industry perspective on how discovery, engagement, and value are evolving. Across music, news, and sports, discovery is increasingly happening also through individual journalists, artists, and personalities rather than institutions alone. That shift doesn’t make publishers or labels less important. In the age of content abundance, it takes strong editorial judgment, data, product, and distribution capabilities to help great work break through and earn trust. She argues that while reach still matters, sustainable growth now comes from focusing further down the funnel: where smaller, more loyal segments of the audience drive disproportionate engagement, stronger relationships, and long-term value that platforms and algorithms cannot easily replace.

Hannah Poferl

Author and Chief Data Officer, Universal Music Group, United States

10:00 a.m. - 10:20 a.m.

State of news subscriptions 2026: Lessons from the growth brands

After a decade of rapid expansion, digital news subscriptions are entering a more complex phase. Growth is slowing in some markets, but the fundamentals of consumer-funded journalism have never been stronger. In this fast-paced data briefing, INMA’s Researcher-in-Residence presents the latest global benchmarks and insights from hundreds of news brands. What truly worked in 2025? Where are publishers doubling down, and where are strategies diverging? And what are the biggest questions for 2026, as AI-driven discovery, zero-click search, and creator competition reshape the funnel?

Greg Piechota

Researcher-in-Residence, and Readers First Initiative Lead, INMA, United Kingdom

10:20 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Networking break

Step out of the plenary and into the networking lounge for a well-timed pause between sessions. Refuel with coffee, tea, and light refreshments, catch up on notes from the morning keynotes, and exchange first impressions with peers from across North America and beyond.

11:00 a.m. - 12:10 p.m.

Business transformations: Pathways to digital-only futures

There is no single blueprint for transforming a news business, and today’s most successful companies are proving that very different paths can lead to sustainable audience revenue. In this case study block, leaders from three major news organisations — one regional, one national, and one global — share how they are reinventing their business models under vastly different market conditions. A U.S. metro publisher made the bold leap to digital-only. A Polish TV broadcaster launched a paywall and reimagined video news for digital access. A U.K. news brand expanded internationally, positioning itself around editorial independence and voluntary support. Together, these stories illuminate contrasting strategies, speeds of change, and future trajectories, raising a central question for the summit: as the audience funnel is reinvented, which path is right for your organisation?

Beata Biel

Head of Digital Premium Unit, TVN Warner Bros. Discovery, Poland

Amie Green

Chief Marketing Officer, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, United States

Paweł Pytlakowski

Senior Director, Digital News, TVN Warner Bros. Discovery, Poland

Steve Sachs

Managing Director, U.S., The Guardian, United Kingdom

12:10 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Live master class: How Amedia scaled local news subscriptions

How do you reach 800,000+ subscribers in a country of just over five million people, across 120+ local news brands, with some newsrooms of only three journalists? In this master class, Norway’s Amedia explains how it became one of Europe’s strongest local-news subscription businesses. This extended, in-depth case study session focuses on two transformations. First, newsrooms: equipping journalists with clear audience insights and shared metrics, and training teams to act on them while preserving strong local identity. Second, subscriptions: moving from stand-alone local offers to a powerful bundled subscription that unlocks network effects across its portfolio. By creating more value together than any single title could alone, Amedia turned bundling into one of the most potent digital subscription products in news media.

Tone Krohn Clausen

Director of Subscriptions, Amedia, Norway

Markus Rask Jensen

Director of News, Amedia, Norway

1:00 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.

Seminar experts’ introductions: Inside Friday’s deep dives

In this short session, we invite hosts of four of the eight in-depth seminars to preview what awaits participants on Friday, March 13. Curated with industry partners and experts in technology and analytics, these seminars dive deep into the mechanics of today’s subscription businesses. From product experience to marketing innovations and operational excellence, the sessions are designed for leaders who want to move beyond strategy and into hands-on problem solving.

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1:10 p.m. - 2:10 p.m.

Lunch and networking

Step away from the plenary and enjoy a relaxed networking lunch with fellow delegates, speakers, and INMA leaders. Whether you’re reconnecting with long-time peers or meeting new colleagues for the first time, lunch offers space for informal exchange and a reset before the afternoon’s sessions.

2:10 p.m. - 3:50 p.m.

Audience funnels reimagined: Best practices in mobilising direct relationships

The audience funnel didn’t collapse; it fragmented. Search is intermediated by AI, social platforms are volatile, and aggregators that once felt dependable can change algorithms overnight. For publishers, the challenge is to mobilize direct relationships, while rebuilding growth across multiple entry points. This session features practical case studies from publishers who reinvented their funnels to hold up growth when platforms break. Some turned sudden distribution loss into moments of reader activation and loyalty, while others redesigned their funnels around fragmentation — investing in brand recall, owned channels, and high-value experiences instead of chasing platform traffic.

Shelby Blackley

Co-founder, WTF is SEO? Newsletter, and Manager, Newsroom SEO, The Athletic, Canada

Claudio Cabrera

Vice-President, Newsroom Strategy and Audience, The Athletic, United States

Heather Ciras

Deputy Managing Editor, Audience, The Boston Globe, United States

Marianne Gélinas

Director, Marketing and Business Intelligence, Le Devoir, Canada

Michelle Micone

Chief Marketing and Strategic Initiatives Officer, The Boston Globe, United States

Jessie Willms

Co-founder, WTF is SEO? Newsletter, and SEO Editor, The Guardian, Canada

3:50 p.m. - 4:20 p.m.

Networking break

Take a well-timed pause in the networking lounge before the day’s final plenary session. Refuel with coffee, tea, and light refreshments, catch up on messages, and compare notes. INMA experts and presenters will be available for informal chats before we reconvene for the final session.

4:20 p.m. - 5:10 p.m.

Branding journalism: Why news publishers must explain themselves, and how

In an era of overwhelming content supply, intensified by AI and creators, journalism risks becoming indistinguishable, misunderstood, or simply ignored. Brand is one of the most powerful tools for differentiation. This session opens with a powerful visual and narrative showcase from a pioneer of artistic journalism, exploring how brand advertising conveys why journalism matters and is worth paying for. Our show director reported on migrants crossing the Mexico–U.S. border and spent nights sheltering during the bombardment of Kyiv. We gave him a safer assignment – examine the best news brand campaigns from around the world, find patterns, and propose how to break through the noise. We finish with a discussion on our brands’ relevance to future audiences. They often don’t recognise news brands and struggle to distinguish journalism from social fodder or AI slop. Drawing on INMA’s new Young Audiences Initiative, the panel explores how branding, experience, and tone must evolve if news media want to remain monetisable in the next decade.

Mark Campbell

President, INMA North America Division, and Chief Marketing Officer, Hearst Newspapers, United States

Jakub Górnicki

Co-Founder, Outriders, Poland

Kerstin Hasse

Young Audiences Initiative Lead, INMA, Switzerland

5:10 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Summary and takeaways

As we close Day 1 of the Media Subscriptions Summit, we’ll briefly distil the most important insights and connect the dots between strategy, data, and real-world case studies. We’ll highlight the questions and ideas that should stay with you into Thursday’s deep dives on subscription mastery and the next growth engines.

5:30 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.

Cocktail reception at Steam Whistle

Digest inspiration from the day’s programming over beer or wine and traditional Toronto snacks. Engage with other attendees, speakers, and industry partners. Afterward, consider joining your peers or inviting them to join you for dinner and enjoy the local cuisine.

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 a.m.

Registration and networking at Steam Whistle Brewing Company, Pilsner Hall

Steam Whistle Brewing, The Roundhouse - 255 Bremner Boulevard

Start your second day at the Media Subscriptions Summit with a cup of coffee, tea, and enjoy the morning snacks. This is a great opportunity to meet colleagues, connect with INMA speakers and industry partners, and set the tone for a productive day ahead.

8:30 a.m. - 8:50 a.m.

Welcome back

We open Day 2 by shifting the focus from reimagining the subscriber funnel to executing sustainable growth in subscription-mature organisations. Our moderators welcome delegates back, outline the day’s themes and speakers, and invite brief reflections from participants.

Idalmy Carrera-Colucci

Summit Co-Moderator and Chief of Staff, Blue Engine Collaborative, United States

Moritz Klein

Summit Co-Moderator and Co-Founder, Zetland, Germany

8:50 a.m. - 9:40 a.m.

Master Class: How Onet transformed from a portal to a platform

This extended “deep dive” session explores one of Europe’s most fascinating transformations in news media: the shift of a digital-native, advertising-led Web portal into an audience-revenue business built around quality journalism. Poland’s Onet was built on aggregation, scale, and advertising reach. In this session, their managing director explains how the company repositioned itself for original content and direct consumer revenue, converging with traditional publishers while operating with a fundamentally different DNA. We’ll then take a closer look at the Onet Premium model: not merely as a bundle, but as a discovery platform for high-quality content from multiple brands. Designed and scaled with a technology-company mindset, it reframes subscriptions as a product ecosystem rather than a single title, offering powerful insights into portfolio thinking and growth mechanics.

Danuta Breguła

Managing Director, Onet, Ringier Axel Springer, Poland

Katarzyna Ostrowska

Head of Subscription Growth, Ringier Axel Springer, Poland

9:40 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

From AI tools to AI agents: Scaling subscription marketing

This session cuts through the hype to show how agentic AI is being applied across the modern subscription funnelL from acquisition and conversion to engagement, retention, and win-backs. We start with a sharp analysis of where agents add real value versus traditional tech stack, mapping agentic use cases to funnel stages and task types. The theory quickly turns practical with examples, showing how simple agentic solutions can be built, tested, and deployed without heavy engineering overhead. The session then dives into a focused case study from Grupo RBS, publisher of Zero Hora. This regional news publisher deployed multiple agents to support product and marketing teams: from campaign ideation and copywriting to UX validation and interactive conversion experiences across email, WhatsApp, and benefits programmes.

Débora Pradella

Executive Manager, Digital Product, Grupo RBS, Brazil

Robert Whitehead

Lead, Digital Platform Initiative, INMA, Australia

10:30 a.m. - 11:10 a.m.

Networking break

Take a break for coffee and informal conversations with fellow delegates, speakers, and INMA experts. Reflect on the morning sessions, exchange notes, and reconnect before we continue with the Subscription Masters case studies.

11:10 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Subscription Masters: Breaking assumptions to unlock the next gains

As subscription businesses mature, growth increasingly depends on challenging long-held assumptions. In this case-study block, senior practitioners share bold experiments in execution – from smarter paywall technology to radical organisational redesigns – aimed at unlocking the next breakthroughs. Your peers from around the world reveal why they took the risk to rethink control, structure, and ownership: granting editorial teams new power over algorithms, or embedding consumer marketing within the newsroom. These cases offer practical lessons in what true subscription mastery looks like when optimisation is no longer enough.

Carolyn Adams

General Manager, Subscriber Revenue, The New Zealand Herald, NZME, New Zealand

Jess Burney

Managing Director, Customer Marketing and Subscriptions, Immediate Media, United Kingdom

Iñigo de Juan Sainz-Planillo

Director, Subscriptions, Vocento, Spain

Donika Lilova

Head of Subscription, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Germany

1:00 p.m. - 1:10 p.m.

Seminar experts’ introductions: Inside Friday’s deep dives

Meet the hosts of selected in-depth seminars taking place on Friday. We curated them with industry partners and experts. In brief pitches, they outline the challenges they will tackle, the practical tools and frameworks they will share, and who should attend to get the most value.

Brought to you by

1:10 p.m. - 2:10 p.m.

Lunch and networking

Take a break for lunch and informal conversations with fellow delegates, speakers, and INMA leaders. Use the time to reflect on the morning’s case studies, exchange ideas, and recharge ahead of the afternoon sessions.

2:10 p.m. - 3:45 p.m.

New premium products: Building portfolios beyond news

As growth from core news subscriptions slows, leading publishers are expanding into premium product lines aimed at very different customers: from individuals willing to pay more for depth and expertise to institutional users seeking decision-grade insight. This session explores how subscription businesses evolve from a single offer into portfolios of products with distinct value propositions. Our experts share how they identify audiences willing to pay extra, nurture these relationships, and design products that go beyond general news: from specialist journalism and intelligence services to tiered memberships with additional benefits. The focus is on product strategy, segmentation, and long-term value creation rather than short-term upselling.

Martin Kady

General Manager, WP Intelligence, The Washington Post, United States

Nick Pimm

Managing Director, Global Subscription Sales, Bloomberg Media, United States

Jop Starmans

Lead, Engagement and Retention, Mediahuis, The Netherlands

3:45 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.

Summary of the day and takeaways

We close Day 2 by distilling the key lessons from subscription mastery, product, and organisational innovation. This brief wrap-up highlights the ideas and questions that should guide next steps as publishers rethink growth beyond optimising their existing products, tech stack, or organisation.

4:00 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

Keynote: Extending audience funnels to machines for future monetisation

Content discovery requires today understanding and serving two audiences: humans and machines. In this keynote, Greg Piechota introduces a dual-funnel framework that connects human audience funnels with machine funnels: the pathways through which AI systems discover, assess, prioritise, and surface publishers’ insights. He argues that not all audiences are equal: just as publishers segment human users by intent, loyalty, and value, they must learn to segment machine audiences as well. Drawing on new INMA analysis of emerging technologies, the keynote maps what changes for discovery and monetisation when both humans and machines shape demand, and why sustainable growth depends on deciding which audiences to optimise for, which to serve differently, and which to ignore.

Greg Piechota

Researcher-in-Residence and Readers First Initiative Lead, INMA, United Kingdom

6:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Thursday Night Party at Hockey Hall of Fame

30 Yonge Street

Step into the temple of Canada’s greatest stories — resilience, teamwork, triumph — with a cocktail in hand. Among legendary jerseys and the Stanley Cup itself, we’ll celebrate your media wins in style. It’s not a wrap party. It’s a victory lap. Enjoy refreshing drinks and great company in a welcoming atmosphere perfect for reflection and connection. Let’s raise a glass to an unforgettable gathering!