In charts: Six Trends Which Will Define Media in 2019

The next 12 months are likely to see a lot of continuity in terms of technology and consumer behaviours; and many of the key strategic issues which What’s New in Publishing readers are interested in are unlikely to go away, or radically change.

With that in mind, below I’ve outlined six strategic priorities for publishers and brands in 2019. Addressing these will be fundamental for prosperity in the year ahead and beyond.

1. Willingness to pay for content

The past year witnessed a “pivot to paywall” from many media outlets. This move included major publications such as Bloomberg, Wired and The Atlantic, who have typically eschewed this approach in the past.

Meanwhile, long-standing paywall users, like the New York Times, halved the number of articles they offered for free (from 10 to 5 a month), as they sought to grow their number of digital subscribers.

For many publishers, the move to paywalls, makes sense given the risks of being too dependent on third party platforms.

However, although evidence suggests that some audiences are more willing to pay for content, large numbers are not. Furthermore, there’s a risk of “peak paywall” as audiences don’t have enough money to pay for all the subscriptions they…