Global Digital Subscription Snapshot 2024 Q2 now available
FIPP’s latest Global Digital Subscription Snapshot arrives with some good news this week with the Q2 report showing a healthy 13.5% rise in digital subscribers for publishers in the first half of 2024.
The quarterly snapshots, exclusive to FIPP members, are the most comprehensive reports on the global digital subscriptions market today, with the latest instalment featuring information on 169 titles, 36 video services and 12 music services.
Encouragingly, the new report reveals proper green shoots in the publishing industry with digital-only subscriptions reaching a total of more than 59 million subscribers at title level.
And its local news media outlets, including Lee Enterprises in the US, that have made some real progress – growing their digital subscriptions and diversifying their revenue streams after trailing behind their national peers for many years.
The report shows that there is growing evidence of a grassroots reinvention of local news media taking place, with an increasing number of start-ups and hyper-local independents creating relevant and high-quality content that their local communities are willing to pay for.
An AI charm offensive
Turning the spotlight on AI, the Snapshot looks at the rapid rate at which publishers have entered into partnerships with OpenAI.
While a number of media groups have sued the artificial intelligence research company behind ChatGTP for copyright infringement, a charm offensive by the tech giant seems to be working.
News Corp, Condé Nast, The Financial Times, The Associated Press, Le Monde, Axel Springer, Dotdash Meredith, PRISA Media, Time Magazine, Vox Media and The Atlantic have all struck up deals with OpenAI for sums that, according to some reports, vary from $250 million over five years to $1-$5 million annually.
These partnerships are not only providing a welcome boost to revenue but are also giving newsrooms access to technology that is helping them reshape the way they work, engage with audiences, and grow their subscriber base.
According to Brad Lightcap, OpenAI’s Chief Operating Officer, the company is committed to working with news publishers to ensure that, as AI plays a larger role in news discovery and delivery, it maintains “accuracy, integrity, and respect for quality reporting”. Of course, the OpenAI charm offensive might not be entirely altruistic, as the Snapshot explores.
What is not in doubt, is the enormous potential AI holds for publishers, with media groups increasingly using it in innovative ways. From WELTgo! – a chatbot launched by Axel Springer’s WELT to help subscribers explore and analyse news in a highly personalised way – to Aftonbladet’s AI-generated article summaries called ‘Snabbversions’, the Snapshot looks at how new tech is changing the media landscape.
New York state of mind
One media giant not cosying up to OpenAI is The New York Times, who remains firmly in the litigation camp. Given its ongoing subscriber success, the brand is certainly acutely aware of the value of quality content and the role it plays in building relationships with its audience.
The most recent results for 2024 Q2 show that profits at the company jumped 13.6% year-on- year, with another 300,000 digital-only subscribers signing up during the quarter.
The total digital-only subscriber base for the New York Times now stands at 10.2 million, with nearly half opting into bundles providing access to multiple products.
Other subscriber success stories include The Atlantic achieving its two long-term objectives of becoming profitable and reaching 1 million subscribers, 500,000 of which are digital-only; Bonnier signing up 270,000 active subscribers to +Allt, its new digital news bundle; and The Wall Street Journal reaching 4.2 million digital-only subscribers.
Following the stream
While Netflix continues to be the streaming frontrunner – exceeding analysts’ expectations with its 2024 Q2 results that added 8 million new subscribers and a 17% year-on-year increase in revenue – there has also been some good news for its major competitors.
The Walt Disney Company confirmed that its consolidated streaming business became profitable for the first time, despite subscriptions to the core Disney+ platform remaining rather flat. Disney+ gained only 700,000 subscribers during the quarter, compared to the 6.3 million added in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, YouTube has achieved the impressive milestone of reaching 100 million subscribers to its premium service, while Paramount Global announced its streaming business became profitable in 2024 Q2, with an operating income of $26 million and Apple TV+ – which became the fastest-growing streaming platform in 2023 Q4 in major markets – maintained its momentum through 2024 Q1.
Turning to tunes, Spotify posted a record quarterly profit in 2024 Q2, growing its premium subscription base by 12% to reach 246 million. Revenue also increased by more than 20% year-on- year, helping the company achieve an operating profit of €266 million.
You can download the full FIPP Global Digital Subscription Snapshot 2024 Q2 here.
Not a FIPP member yet? You can join FIPP membership directly in the report page.
