Editorial coverage of amateur football is of interest to those who play it as well as their families, friends and sponsors: people who are loyal to their local teams in their victories and defeats. These engaged communities represent a significant potential for a regional daily newspaper. La Voix du Nord has long been aware of their importance and, since the end of 2021, has been saying it loud and clear to fans.

The French-language publisher has recently overhauled its website and updated its newsroom operations to support its digital transformation process. The renewed digital channels and streamlined newsroom workflows gave them a huge push with digital subscriptions.

The Spanish publisher has created new dashboards that give insights about the performance of its online content and help inform its newsroom’s editorial planning. The company has also conducted a website and app redesign, which has produced higher reader engagement while also reducing churn.

During its participation in Table Stakes Europe in 2019–2020, the German newspaper made significant progress in establishing a new digital-first, audience-focused workflow. Since then, the publisher has continued to innovate on how it covers local news, and it has created a new product – an evening news summary – that matches its readers’ interests and habits.

Vocento’s lifestyle and health section Vivir was hit hard by the pandemic. But moving away from print-centred workflows and adopting a digital-first mindset allowed the group to boost traffic, turning it into a success that can serve as a model for other sections.

Barcelona-based news brand ARA launched in 2010. They publish a print newspaper and have a digital presence (website and apps) with ara. cat. ARA has editions in Catalonia, Andorra, Girona, Tarragona, Lleida, Balearic Islands and Valencia. There is also ARA in Spanish and a selection of articles in English.

Le Parisien was the largest company in the first round of Table Stakes Europe with a newsroom of 440 journalists. The print newspaper is still by far the largest revenue generator for Le Parisien (90% of the revenue). However, with a steady annual decline in print paid circulation, the newspaper needs to gain 200,000 digital-only subscribers to offset the print decline and sustain its editorial ambitions.