Our Hometown Blog

We come across a lot of interesting articles in our research on the local news industry.

Here are some of the articles we are enjoying this week:

#1 – New York Times Hits 7 Million Subscribers as Digital Revenue Rises

“Our strategy for journalism worth paying for continues to prove itself out,” said CEO Meredith Kopit Levin.

“Digital subscriptions would not only be the central driver of the publisher’s growth, Ms. Levien added, but eventually become its biggest business.”

#2 – Gannett posts revenue decline but tops 1 million digital subscriptions in third quarter

“We continue to focus on transitioning to a subscription-led business model, we expect to leverage this important milestone to accelerate growth in 2021 and beyond”, said CEO and Chairman Michael Reed.

#3 – Text-to-Speech is the Audio Opportunity no one’s talking about

“While offering articles in an audible format is nothing new, this type of content is currently enjoying a massive boom, as time-strapped audiences look for convenient ways to consume online media.”

Check out Audio Articles for an automated way to produce podcasts!

#4 – Idaho Statesman to Sell its Building after 48 Years

“This is a major part of our transformation into a digital news organization”, said Publisher Rusty Dodge.  “The building no longer fits our needs.”

#5 – Three News Innovation Projects as Inspiration for your 2021 planning

1.  Gamifying news at Russmedia brings 10x growth in registered readers
2. Personalizing news distribution at The Times lowers churn by 49%
3. Differentiated plans enable 40% subscribers growth at Le Monde

#6 – Amedia’s seven steps to digital subscription success

1. Get Readers to Login
2. Focus on your existing subscribers
3. Democratise data and insights and empower your journalists.
4. Develop your products using facts and insight
5. Sell your paid subscription product to new readers
6. Reduce churn, and focus on churn reduction within the whole organization.
   1. “The more they read; the less the readers churn”
7. Do the same with advertising data

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