Financial Times reaches one million digital subscribers

The Financial Times now has one million paying digital subscribers, an all-time high and significant moment in its digital transformation. It reached one million total subscribers, including print customers, in 2019.

Global Expansion

More than half of FT subscribers are based outside the UK, illustrating the publication’s global reach. In recent years the FT has invested in expanding its readership in the US in particular, which now accounts for more than 20% of its subscriber numbers.

The FT first introduced a paywall in 2002. It pioneered a ‘metered’ access model in 2007 before moving in 2015 to paid trials as its primary model. Digital journalism revenues are now equal to all of its other revenue streams combined, while the FT’s iconic pink newspaper continues to be profitable: in fact, the FT Weekend publication has seen circulation increase by double digits in the past two years.

CEO John Ridding said: “This is another milestone in our successful digital transformation and a strategy we have been pursuing for over a decade. The FT is proof that quality journalism can be a quality growth business, and digital journalism can be a quality global business.”

Editor Roula Khalaf said: “The FT is unique in delivering scoops, deep analysis, investigations, commentary and culture, all from a truly global perspective. Through the pandemic and beyond readers relied on us for trusted coverage and insight – and we have responded with ever more engaging formats like visual storytelling, film and data journalism.”

Google Digital Immersion Week

Since last year, FIPP has been running an ongoing training course in partnership with Google and FT Strategies. Titled ‘Digital Immersion Week’ the course is FREE to magazine media professionals throughout the EMEA region.

Participants can gain exclusive insights firsthand into the FT’s digital subscriptions strategy, as well as a number of publisher case studies from the magazine media sector. You can find out more information here.

Main Image: Shutterstock/Hadrian