Publishers Increasingly Turn to Bundled Subscriptions to Drive Growth
News publishers are actively exploringโข bundled subscription initiatives as a strategyโ to expand their digital reach and counter stagnating growth within domestic markets.These partnerships allow publishers to offerโฃ subscribers access to a wider range of content,โค potentially increasing value and attracting new customers.
News Corpโ Australia announcedโค in mid-October a new โขdigital subscription offer providing access to The australian, The Wallโ Street Journal, and The Times of London for a single monthly or annual price. โShortly โขafter, France’s Le Monde launched a program granting select subscribers a one-year complimentary subscription to The New York Times. However, this offer is currently one-way; The New York times is not extending reciprocal access to its readers for Leโฃ Monde โsubscriptions, as noted by Adweek’s Mark Stenberg.
Lateโค Octoberโ also sawโ a partnership โbetween bloomberg โmedia and Sports Business journal. This collaboration offers bundled subscription options, including a deal for new and current Bloomberg.com subscribers to access Sports Business Journal โcontent. โA limited-time โฃoffer provides a year of Bloomberg.com and six months โขof Sports Business Journal for $299 โ- โฃrepresentingโ over $500 in annualโค savings. Existing Bloomberg.com subscribers can also gain unlimited โmonthly accessโ toโค SBJ โfor $1.
This trend isn’t new. Amedia in Norway โขlaunched “+Alt” โคseveral years ago, a bundled subscription initiative granting digital subscribers access to content across its network of approximately 100 local news sites.
The New โฃyork โคTimes hasโข been particularly active in these partnerships. A Nieman Lab article from March highlighted that premium subscribers to European publishers including Spain’s El Paรญs, Denmark’s Politiken, The โคIrish Times, and Italy’s Corriere della Sera also receive access to The New โYork Times, The athletic, Wirecutter,โข NYT Cooking, and NYT Games.
the long-term impact of โขthese bundled offerings remains to be seen, but initial signs are positive. As Jacob Cohen Donnelly wrote on A โMedia operator’s website earlier this year, “However you set it up,โ bundles โmake a lot of sense, especially โฃwhen they’re โcomplementaryโฆ Finding complementary partners where both are marketing and there’s perceived value saved for subscribers could be a win-win.”
