Historic digital subscriptions data now available to FIPP members
FIPP has for the first time made its historic digital subscriptions data freely downloadable for members. The figures, which date back to 2016, provide the raw numbers behind the association’s quarterly Digital Subscription Snapshot reports, published in partnership with digital experience platform Piano.
The data underlines the meteoric rise of digital subscriptions in recent years, and tracks video on demand platforms like Netflix and Disney+, as well as the subscription performance of more traditional publishers.
The latest Snapshot report from Q1 2022 is now available to members here. It shows that The New York Times (NYT) and Wall Street Journal (WSJ) continue to show strong results, with a number of new entries to the report, including content aggregator, Readly.
Latest findings
In introducing the latest incarnation of the Snapshot, FIPP President & CEO James Hewes addresses the at times uneasy juxtaposition between negative events, and the thirst for information around them.
“It’s impossible to write the introduction to this quarter’s report without referring to the horrific events currently taking place in Ukraine,” says Hewes, in his introduction. “The arrival of large-scale war in Europe, long after it was thought to have been eradicated, has led to widespread suffering across that country, triggering a concerted political effort to rein in Russia’s aggression through sanctions.”
“After suffering through 2 years of the pandemic, we might have hoped for a few years peace and prosperity to allow us to rebuild shattered lives and businesses. As it is, we have faced, in quick succession, the two biggest crises the world has seen since the end of the Cold War.”
“It is gratifying to see publishers learning the lessons of Covid and applying them to the invasion of Ukraine. Many news providers have made their Ukraine coverage free to access, removing it from their paywall content, and thus allowing readers, many of whom will be displaced, to freely access what may be vitally important information.”
“As ruthless as it may sound, the economic reality of the war is that it will undoubtedly lead to a further bump in digital subscriptions, as readers across the world scramble to make sense of the latest developments. Coming on top of the “Covid bump”, this additional crisis may further cement the habit of paying for news among engaged consumers.”
Both the latest quarterly Snapshot report and full historic data can be accessed by members here.
