Thursday 23rd May: Publishers double down on subscriptions as challenges mount

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There are just THREE WEEKS until the Publisher Podcast & Newsletter Summit (and Podcast Awards in the evening) and we have just 24 tickets left. If you’re a publisher with newsletters and/or podcasts, this is a conference you need to be at. We promise that there’s nowhere else doing full day deep-dives into the potential of newsletters and podcasts for your business.

The rapidly changing media landscape means “robust subscription revenue” is becoming increasingly important in maintaining a viable publishing business. So says Toolkits’ Jack Marshall, reporting on publisher moves to step up the focus on subscriptions as a core revenue driver as monetising their audiences through advertising and commerce is becomes more challenging.

Toolkits asked senior executives from 28 individual publishers how focused their companies are on building subscription revenue now compared with last year. Seventeen said their focus has increased, 11 said it’s about the same as it was, and none said their focus on subscriptions has decreased. All of the companies currently operate a subscription business, even if they didn’t last year.

Marshall says, “Publishers’ growing focus on subscription revenue is unsurprising given the mounting challenges facing their businesses generally, and indirect revenue streams specifically.” He lists traffic declines, inventory oversupply and questions of brand safety as specific challenges.

Our creator economy columnist Charlotte Henry was at The Podcast Show in London yesterday. Proving that mainstream podcasting is not all reality TV ‘stars’ and comedians, she’s reporting that the serious journos and policitians speaking were all a-flutter about the prospect of a snap general election in the UK (now called for July 4th). Looks like the ‘How to win an election’ podcast from The Times might be getting some serious attention. Maybe we’ll ask them to speak at next year’s Podcast & Newsletter Summit.

I worry about philanthropy as a business model. We talk all the time about the folly of building your media business on someone else’s platform. To me, relying on someone else to pay your bills also feels a little risky. That said, philanthropic grants are important in funding local news, especially in the US, and this piece highlights some of the challenges publishers face when they go looking for some help.

Here’s a story I never imagined linking to: The UK’s largest newspaper and magazine delivery business has turned a £1.44m loss in 2022 into a £1.1m pre-tax profit in in 2023. And 2024 is on track to be even better. The turnaround is said to be down to software improvements and the acquisition of newspaper rounds from newsagents looking to exit the delivery business. Every cloud 🌥️

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