Reader Revenue Review of 2022

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For many publishers today, their North Star is to reach that point where digital subscription revenue accounts for the largest share of income – quite simply, sustainable, recurring revenue to pay salaries and drive their newsroom.

But there is nothing simple about this undertaking, balancing acquisition, growth and retention.

This is undeniably still an enormous challenge as well as an ongoing one when there are so many other media subscription options open to the modern consumer. And there’s all that free news content out there to compete with as well.

Again, this move towards relying on reader revenue is not to say that advertising is no longer important. It most certainly is and, in fact, still provides the majority of revenues (print included) for most publishers globally. But the steep decline in print advertising YoY and the precarious nature of digital advertising don’t exactly instill confidence long term for publishers.

A good reference point

Here, we present 10 case studies from publishers in regions throughout the world including Africa, Asia, Europe and North America. They tell us about what they’ve tried, what’s worked, what hasn’t, what they’re planning to try next and more.

These cases were compiled and updated largely from speaker’s presentations from our global series of annual events. They encompass a variety of solutions, including donations and podcasts, and look at various aspects of digital subscription strategies.

As with just about everything that has happened in the news publishing world in the past 20 or so years, no single solution works for everyone, but our aim is that through providing many different approaches, every publisher who reads the case studies in this report will find advice and learnings from them that will help them in their own path forward.

The 10 case studies

• Canada’s Globe and Mail: Quality journalism, data power growth
• The Guardian: Listening to readers and members paying off
• South China Morning Post: Audience-specific journeys
• Times of India: Doubling down on data analysis
• Le Monde: How to reach 1 million subscriptions by 2025
• Switzerland’s NZZ: Experimental culture provides reader profiles
• The Sunday Times: Strategy to win new audiences
• South Africa’s News24: Subscribers boost podcast success
• Norway’s Aftenposten: A focus on features and habits for retention
• The New York Times: How beyond-news products drive subs

This report would not be possible without the loyal support of our report partner, Stibo DX.