Monday 5th December: How subscription publishers approached Black Friday

December 05, 2022

Good morning! Today's newsletter is brought to you by Esther.

Twipe has spent the week studying the Black Friday offers of 60 publishers from 17 different countries. Of the 60, 37 offered specific Black Friday deals.

Given that there have been a number of studies in recent years showing the difficulty of converting low-cost and trial subscribers into a full paying relationship, I'm a little surprised at the extent of some of this discounting. El País gave their readers 75% off, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung 80%, and Göteborgs-Posten leading the way at a 99% discount.

There are lots of interesting points to consider in this helpful overview, but one point I thought was worth noting was that, in contrast to 2021, virtually no publishers offered non-news products as part of a Black Friday bundle. The Telegraph was the only exception, offering new subscribers a free coffee cup. Maybe logistical/distribution challenges (and postal strikes?) are making freebies just a little too dear these days.

A new FIPP report offers tips to publishers for effectively growing their digital revenue and keeping a healthy balance with the print side of the business. WNIP have done a round-up of some of the key takeaways - I didn't realise print subscriptions still represent over half of total paid subscriptions (and 83% of total subscriptions revenue)!

Reuters continues its important work on climate journalism with a new report that explores how people in eight countries access news and information about climate change. One interesting point is that the vast majority of people are worried about the impact of climate change in the world - ranging from 75% in the USA to 89% in India. That implies much less scepticism than expected.

Bloomberg has seen growth in the majority of its key business drivers this year. Advertising has seen 25% growth, boosted by especially strong EMEA performance, and events have seen a massive 90% growth (although huge jumps like that are to be expected compared to mid-pandemic 2021). Their subscribers now total 450,000, which they note has been accelerated by the enterprise subs business started earlier this year.

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New podcast:

This special episode of Media Voices features the audio of our launch presentation for the Media Moments 2022 report. Chris, Peter and Esther each outline which media moment of the year they found interesting. The team are then joined by BuzzFeed’s Caroline Fenner, AdWeek’s Stephen Lepitak and Poool’s Ludivine Paquet to discuss what they’ve identified as the biggest shifts this year.

Our annual report has launched! Media Moments 2022 brings together the key events which have shaped the media and publishing industry this year, from the boom and bust cycles of the advertising market to news fatigue, the increasing prominence of climate coverage, and the impact of shifting trust.