The Independent is minimising its reliance upon advertising as it hits a significant number of registered users. Its chair told me it aims to multiply its direct reader revenue by five...
A tale of three publishers: UK daily news brands eye a more stable future
After decades of disruption and painful digital transformation, the UK’s ‘quality’ daily news publishers - once called broadsheets - seem to have finally...
The start-ups saving local news in the U.S.
The narrative that local news is dead is widely accepted in the media industry. The rise of digital advertising has cut off the main source of revenue for organisations that cover local news,...
Transcript: Terri White, Former Editor-in-Chief, EMPIRE Magazine
Peter Houston
Peter Houston: Thanks for actually talking to us, now that you're famous and have been on Loose Women. As far as I know, you're the first...
Quartz CEO Zach Seward on charting a new course for the business lifestyle brand
This week Zach Seward, CEO of Quartz, explains why he bought the business lifestyle brand from Uzabase. He tells us how it all started and how it’s going, about memberships and advertising, and...
Pugpig’s Jonny Kaldor discusses the state of the digital publishing market
Last year, the team at Pugpig decided to take a step back from their day-to-day development work and get a sense of what was going on in the wider digital publishing market. Analysing data from...
Opportunities for publishers in 2021: a moment to reflect and reset on long-held strategies and beliefs
The swerves publishers take in 2021 are likely to be much sharper than we can predict. But despite the many challenges on the horizon, there’s reason for hope. Chris Sutcliffe rounds up...
Sink or swim for events strategies as the ‘pivot to virtual’ divides publishers into two camps
Covid-19 decimated events revenues overnight, but many have taken the opportunity to innovate. As publishers look towards an uncertain future, we can be sure that the events industry will...
Covid-19 has boosted reader revenues and reminded us why they matter
Already trending upwards for many publishers, reader revenue growth has been spurred on by lockdown audiences desperate for news and with lots of time on their hands. Peter Houston rounds...
Wessenden Marketing’s Jim Bilton on how the pandemic has impacted newspaper and magazine retail
This week we talk to Jim Bilton of Wessenden Marketing, who does research around media supply chains. He tells us about how the pandemic has impacted newspaper and magazine retail, about who might...
New Year Special: What does 2019 hold for media?
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...
How publishers are navigating the perilous path to diversification
Chris Sutcliffe looks at how and why publishers are working so hard to diversify their revenue streams, for Digital Content Next.
Many quality publishers are navigating the...
Why micropayments aren’t dead…yet
Far from being a failed experiment, Esther Kezia Thorpe argues that we need to think bigger when it comes to micropayments, for What's New in Publishing.
With the rise of...
You Can Sell Anything Once, But How Do You Keep Readers Paying for Content?
Peter Houston explores the 'Four P's of Retention' in his latest article for Publishing Executive.
Though the UK’s vote to exit the EU and the election of Donald Trump may...
If Paid Content is the New Hope, How Do We Convert Free Readers to Paying Ones?
Peter Houston looks at what will convert an audience from free to paid in his latest article for Publishing Executive
So we’re agreed? Reader revenue is the way to go. We’re...
The Times and Sunday Times’ Alan Hunter on achieving a major digital subscription milestone
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...
Reader revenues? Absolutely, but what will people pay for?
The pivot to paid-content is undoubtedly a positive move for publishers, but what exactly should we be asking our audiences to buy? Peter Houston reports.
If you’re reading...
The Scottish Wedding Directory’s Chris Phin on switching niches and ads vs reader revenues
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...