News subscription is a revenue model where your audience makes recurring payments to access all or some of your content. It can be a great way to diversify reader revenue, especially when you have an established audience that you know is willing to pay and a high value product.
Subscriptions are among the most stable funding arrangements for news organizations. They allow you to recoup upfront costs while also protecting your journalism against the volatility of the advertising market. This is particularly important for mission-driven publications, where a shift to a subscription strategy can make your publication more sustainable.
The New York Times is the top subscriber-supported newspaper with 7.5 million subscribers. The Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Game Informer and the UK’s Financial Times are other notable news outlets with significant subscriber numbers.
People who pay for a news subscription are highly committed to the brands they choose. In fact, almost 4 in 10 say they subscribe to two or more news sources in print and digital. Those who are drawn to paying for news often feel they are getting good value for their money. And most believe the information they receive helps them to be better citizens.
When it comes to gaining new subscribers, many publishers are reversing course on hard paywalls and turning to flexible models like memberships and ads that offer lower barriers to entry. It’s important to understand your audience, what they care about and how to build trust in order to grow your subscriber base.