In this episode Chris and Esther are joined by Damian Radcliffe, Carolyn S. Chambers Professor in Journalism at the University of Oregon, to discuss what lessons from 2018 they want to see applied in the new year. The discussion takes in print, digital, memberships, audio, KFC, Japan, cat gifs, vegan sausage rolls, and much more.
Continue reading “New Year Special: What does 2019 hold for media?”
Many quality publishers are navigating the “valley of death” on their migration from an advertising-funded model to one more reliant on direct reader revenue. It’s not a journey that they’ll all survive. But publishers are being driven by the realization that solely ad-funded models won’t work in the age of platform intermediaries and tech giants, which control both content distribution and advertising revenue. However, for publications with a loyal, engaged audience, the journey is worth the risk.
Continue reading “How publishers are navigating the perilous path to diversification”
With the rise of subscriptions and paywalls comes the realisation that there’s a large chunk of a publisher’s audience that they may never be able to effectively monetise. Only an estimated 5% of a publisher’s digital readership will convert to pay for a full subscription, according to Digiday.
But what’s the alternative? Micropayments are one of the alternative revenue streams touted by hopeful tech start-ups and half-heartedly trialled by some organisations. But you’d be hard pushed to think of a publisher in the Western hemisphere who has properly explored micropayments, for better or for worse.
Though the UK’s vote to exit the EU and the election of Donald Trump may have roiled the British and American public, both have been great for subscription sales. Stories of the readership surge caused by the Trump Bump and the Brexit Bounce are legend among audience development professionals.
Everyone knows, except maybe the president, that The New York Times gained more than 250,000 subscribers in the quarter after his election. The UK’s own Times newspaper doubled its subscription sales over the weekend of the EU referendum by opening access to deep-dive Brexit pieces like: Life after Brexit: what happens next.
Continue reading “You Can Sell Anything Once, But How Do You Keep Readers Paying for Content?”
So we’re agreed? Reader revenue is the way to go. We’re over traffic-at-scale and ad-only funding models. Subscriptions probably won’t pay all your bills, but a healthy mix of subs and ad sales is what we’re all about these days.
OK? Great! Now that we’ve settled the paid content argument, how are we actually going to get people to pay?
Continue reading “If Paid Content is the New Hope, How Do We Convert Free Readers to Paying Ones?”
This week, Esther talks to the The Times and Sunday Times’ Head of Digital Alan Hunter about how they met their milestone of 500,000 digital subscribers, why their paywall persistence has paid off, and how edition-based publishing is more important to their audience than ever.
If you’re reading InPublishing, it’s probably safe to assume that you care about the future of the publishing industry. And assuming that you care, you probably welcome the signs that the industry has a new revenue stream worth embracing: you’re happy that paid-content is firmly on publishing’s radar.
Continue reading “Reader revenues? Absolutely, but what will people pay for?”
In this week’s episode of Media Voices, Peter talks to Chris Phin, Head of DC Thomson’s Scottish Wedding Directory, about the best ways to monetise a niche vertical and switching from tech journalism to covering the bridal scene.
