I’m sharing the summary of our latest paywall study, Still Unwilling to Pay: An Empirical Analysis of 50 U.S. Newspapers’ Digital Subscription Results (published in Digital Journalism). We looked at 50 major U.S. newspapers’ circulation and pricing data and revealed that, even after the Trump Bump, digital subscriptions remained insignificant as a revenue source.
Executive Summary
While U.S. newspapers have been trying to reduce their reliance on advertising and increase reader revenue, research on consumers’ response to digital news products provides little support for such a strategy. As a reality check, this study examines 50 U.S. newspapers’ digital subscription results through analyzing their circulation and pricing data. Results revealed that they charged digital subscribers a fraction of the print subscription price, but digital subscribership remained small, contributing only 3% of total reader revenue.
Key findings:
- Even after the “Trump Bump, these newspapers’ digital subscribership was, in most cases, underwhelming. On average, only 5,556 subscribers paid for these newspapers’ digital nonreplica (Web and app) edition, which was only 6% of their print circulation. Even with digital replica subscribers (5,696), total digital circulation was only 12% of print circulation. (Note that print circulation has been declining for decades.)
Table 1 presents each newspaper’s paid circulation and pricing data.
- Digital nonreplica subscriptions were sold at 23% of the price for a print subscription. Deep discounts for new digital subscribers were common practice at 25 cents per week.
- With a price so low and a subscribership so small, it is estimated that digital subscriptions generated only 3% of total subscription revenue.
Digital performance as weak as such indicates a consistent lack of paying intent, raising serious concerns about the viability of the subscription model as a revenue source for digital journalism.
To access the full article (free download by the end of May): Chyi, Hsiang Iris, and Yee Man Margaret Ng. 2020. “Still Unwilling to Pay: An Empirical Analysis of 50 U.S. Newspapers’ Digital Subscription Results.” Digital Journalism.
Questions: Contact Iris Chyi at chyi@mail.utexas.edu or on Twitter @irischyi
