How can media companies up their subscription strategies?
Generating income from their audience remains essential for most publishers and content creators, but approaches must become more targeted and flexible to flourish.
The latest Digital News report from the Reuters Institute revealed that while digital subscriptions have become a key revenue source for many companies, growth has largely flattened. Globally, only a relatively small percentage of people pay for online news. Even across 20 more affluent countries, only 17% of people paid for digital news in the past year. Moreover, a significant portion of digital subscriptions go to a few upmarket brands, squeezing out smaller — often local — brands, and resulting in what the report authors describe as a “winner-takes-most” subscription market.
Alongside this, many subscribers — around four in ten — are paying less than the full price, often through discounted offers or trials. There is no guarantee that consumers will stay on after this trial period, or upgrade to unsubsidized packages.
Yet, despite this, the Reuters Institute’s annual predictions report notes that subscriptions are the most important revenue focus for publishers in the year ahead. A survey of 326 media leaders in 51 countries found that 77% of respondents said subscriptions were “likely to be important or very important” for their company in 2025.
Given the level of subscription stagnation, this prioritization may seem surprising. But, in part, it reflects the difficult headwinds publishers are encountering elsewhere.
New data from WAN-IFRA, featuring insights from 240 senior media executives across 85 countries, shows that advertising now only accounts for just over a third (36.6%) of total revenues at their companies. That’s a big shift from the days when media revenues were overwhelmingly advertising-led.
WAN-IFRA’s data also found that, for the first time, income from print circulation and advertising accounted for less than half (45%) of respondents’ revenues. Moreover, income from some other sources, such as major tech platforms, has also diminished.
Against this challenging financial backdrop, many media outlets may feel that they have no option but to be relatively bullish about the prospects for reader revenue, and that subscriptions are fundamental to their financial success.
At the same time, companies can also learn from a growing number of success stories, and these potentially point the way to a more prosperous subscription-shaped future.
With that in mind, I asked four leading industry experts - Kevin Anderson, Peter Houston, Greg Piechota, and Madeleine White — for their thoughts on how the subscription landscape is changing and its implications for media companies.
These trends include:
✅ AI-powered personalization & smarter paywalls
✅ The rise of bundling to boost engagement
✅ How publishers are combating subscription fatigue
✅ The collapse of social media referrals & the rise of direct engagement
Read the full story here: https://digitalcontentnext.org/blog/2025/02/13/subscription-growth-trends-to-watch-in-2025/
