FT Strategies’ Post

Discounts are an important way for news organizations to reel in new readers and subscribers. At least 60% of digital news subscribers are signed up with a price cut, according to a new report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at Oxford University. Cheap subscriptions and an inability to meaningfully convert discounted subscribers to full cost subscriptions are both part of the myriad financial challenges media outlets face in 2024. The struggle to convince customers' news is worth paying for continues. What can be done to ensure subscribers pay more? “If news brands are able to show that their journalism is built on accuracy, fairness, and transparency — and that humans remain in control — audiences are more likely to respond positively,” reads the annual Digital News Report. Read more in today’s Poynter Report, our Monday-Friday #media industry newsletter: https://lnkd.in/epn8zAkb

The New York Times has rewritten the playbook on media revenue with an unprecedented shift: it now earns three times more from subscriptions than advertising! 📰💰 What's their secret sauce? They've mastered the art of building a core product that not only relies on advertising but also offers substantial value, attracting a massive subscriber base. Even more impressive? Their digital subscription revenue now surpasses print subscriptions by almost twofold! 📈💻 This success story isn't just about numbers – it's a testament to their unparalleled scale, execution, and long-term vision. The NYT's journey challenges the digital perception that audiences won't pay and proves that with the right strategy, a subscription-based news ecosystem can thrive, outpacing traditional revenue streams without solely depending on big tech or digital advertisers' whims. 💡 Dare to innovate and think long-term! #MediaIndustry #Subscription #Innovation #DigitalTransformation https://lnkd.in/gZPwyutz

Which publishers do you trust? We’re a proud member of the Digital Publishers Alliance (DPA), an industry body representing the leading independent publishers in the country, and for the first time we’re conducting research into the audiences of a broad range of digital publishers of all shapes and sizes. There are 13 short questions to tell us what you think about your favourite Australian publishers, and the results will help us grow as an industry.    Answers only take a couple of minutes: https://bit.ly/DPA1001

Vice can't get over its vice - a shrinking digital ad market. The once swashbuckling media upstart once valued at more than $5 billion joins other once high-flying media brands in either scaling back operations or in Vice's case, shutting down. At one point, outlets such as Vice and BuzzFeed were considered the news vanguards for younger audiences. But these days, those audiences are increasingly turning to social media platforms TikTok and Instagram for their news. Traditional media such as the Wall Street Journal and New York Times have had to rejigger their models quickly to focus on digital media, while others such as the Los Angeles Times and Conde Nast have had no choice but to scale back their reporter ranks. Given the present and sad state of journalism as we know it, the pie for ad dollars is shrinking. For Vice, it's digital content will now be distributed through established media companies to distribute its digital content. It's a far cry from the $5 billion news Goliath that was once envisioned. And journalism gets pushed further under https://lnkd.in/e8f8ij6D #advertising #vice #news #digitalcontent #journalism

This is terrific research-based analysis of media bias - it ranks liberal and conservatives outlets and shows based on a set of quantifiable info and does so for informational purposes. Very much worth an informed look #mediacoverage #mediabias #newsupdates #news. Note that it has interactive component that lets you look up the bias and reliability factor of specific shows and media outlets. Editing to link directly to chart that is easier to use to see where outlet or show that you like -- or dislike --is rated. https://lnkd.in/gVHC3x6B

The 2023’s Reuters Institute Digital News Report found that 18 to 24-year-olds are going to social media rather than publisher websites for news, and the FT Strategies report said it was wrong to assume they will change their habits as they get older. Five “modes” of media consumption common to younger audiences, claiming they use news to variously to: - filter useful stories from large volumes of information - substantiate claims - build up their knowledge - socialise - and “sensemake”. #genZ #media #consumption https://lnkd.in/dZyYGfad

Last week one of the news brands I am subscribed to hosted a live streaming cultural event whose subject was extremely interesting for me. I set a reminder on my calendar. I had an early dinner. I sat on my sofa. I started AirPlaying the news website's video player from my laptop to my TV. The event started. A couple of minutes into the event, the site refreshed and closed the video player. I reopened it. A couple of minutes later, it happened the same. After the third refresh I understood the refrain, I closed the website and my laptop, and opened Netflix. There aren't expressions that I hate more than "funding journalism" and "saving news media". Don't get me wrong, what gets me out of bed in the morning is my passion for media and the mission of contributing to the self-sustainability and independence of news media in particular. But it is precisely because I know the value of news media, what they can provide to their audiences (our societies) and, indirectly, to advertisers, the trust and reputation they can command and the quality environments they can offer, that I cannot accept the assumption that they "should be funded". #media #advertising #subscriptions #monetisation #strategy #newsmedia #news #audience #userexperience #democracy #information #journalism

👇 This is ground-breaking news for major brands and news media. Our Ads for News initiative aims to make independent news media a great place for major brands to advertise, bringing back much-needed ad budgets that can help sustain their operations. The challenge has always been getting evidence of impact from all sides: brands, agencies and publishers. With today's release we take a leap forward with: 🌟 A 43% year-on-year increase on APAC digital ad spend with trusted news media by the world's leading media investment firm: GroupM 🌟 Testimonials from multiple independent news media on the impact of this work ...and perhaps most importantly, 🌟 We prove to major brands that being in quality news environments, cutting out Made for Advertising (MFA), disinformation and hate speech, just works. A major automotive brand has experienced 60% higher ad click-through rate and 20% reduction in CPM (cost per thousand ad displays) by being in Ads for News-vetted news media. These are campaign metrics any media planner would shout about. Kudos to the incredible Chris Hajecki for driving this work forward at Internews. This is part of a bigger picture coming together in our media business work at Internews. As we integrate Ads for News into the Media Viability Accelerator (MVA) this year, with support of the USAID-funded MVA Forward initiative (partnering with Microsoft's Democracy Forward team), it will become a place where partner brands and agencies can access tailored sets of trusted news media to target according to multiple trust signals and AI-driven content analysis. It will also then make the MVA an even more valuable place for independent media to be. With great partners, creating quite brave products together that actually work, we're bringing some money back to news.

Really interesting article

Guardian Media Group (GMG)’s record revenues in the past financial year have provided yet another vindication for the subscription-based news model. The parent company of the The Guardian and The Observer newspapers hit revenues of £264.4mln, a 3% year-on-year increase. This was, however, offset by £21mln in cash outflows due to planned investment in journalists and digital media infrastructure. As the company expanded its workforce globally, expenditure on wages increased from £131mln to £152.6mln. Income from digital products proved the special sauce for GMG’s record year, with subscriptions accounting for 70% of total revenues. #LSE #RCH More at #Proactive #ProactiveInvestors http://ow.ly/Mo9A104Plcg