For decades, advertising was the primary source of income for media companies. However, the digital age has forced publishers to rapidly reassess their revenue mix as advertising monies increasingly move to the big tech platforms. 

In response, effective subscription strategies have become increasingly critical. Growing the percentage, and volume of income, that publishers receive directly from their readers is essential to revenue diversification. 

As a result, the past decade has seen paywalls become mainstream. This has been accompanied by the emergence of diversified reader revenue strategies that include membership programs, event strategies, and e-commerce. 

There have been some notable success stories during this period. By drawing more money directly from audiences, and reducing dependence on advertisers, many media companies have broadened their revenue base and reduced their reliance on volatile advertising markets. 

However, subscriptions, the cornerstone of most reader revenue strategies, are now at something of a turning point. As the Digital News Report noted, “Over the last 10 years, ongoing subscription levels across our basket of 20 countries have more than doubled but they now look to have hit a ceiling.”

Given this, it is important to ask, how we got here, why this leveling off matters and what can be done about it. 

The ad squeeze

Research from WARC in late-2023, clearly demonstrates why publishers must reduce their reliance on advertising. Despite advertising markets growing year-on-year, these additional monies are seldom finding their way to traditional publishers, whereas spend on search, social networks and retail media has continued to grow.

WARC’s data showed that more than half of global advertising spend was already going to five companies: Alibaba, Alphabet (Google, YouTube), Amazon, ByteDance (TikTok), and Meta (Facebook, Instagram).  

That trend line has only continued with advertisers attracted by the targeting offered by these platforms. And when advertisers are spending their dollars with publishers, it is increasingly focused on creators and non-hard news verticals such as lifestyle and sport. 

Professionally created media now receives only 51% of content-driven ad spend. That’s down from 72% in 2019. GroupM forecasts this will fall below 50% in 2026, as influencers and creator-journalists continue to attract a great share of advertiser budgets. These monies aren’t coming back. So that makes revenue diversification – with subscriptions serving as a cornerstone – essential.

Surveying the subscription landscape

More than three quarters (77%) of commercial publishers said that subscriptions are an area of key focus in 2025. 

This emphasis, according to a sample of nearly 300 industry leaders published by the Reuters Institute, is some way ahead of traditional display advertising, which is seen as “important or very important” in 2025 by 69% of their sample. It’s also well ahead of native advertising (59%).

Yet growing subscription income is not easy. As the Digital News Report’s authors note, “Publishers have already signed up many of those prepared to pay and in a tight economic climate it has been hard to persuade others to do the same.” 

Furthermore, across a basket of 20 wealthier countries, the study found that the share of users paying for news has levelled out at 18%.

With most households enjoying only one or two news subscriptions, that typically means that large, established, players like The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal, dominate. Smaller publishers, such as local news providers, can struggle to punch through to enjoy their share of the subscription spoils. 

Alongside this, as the Pew Research Center recently observed, the ability to access news for free elsewhere is also a deterrent to taking out a subscription. 

Willingness to pay is further diminished by insufficient interest (32%). Pew notes that “Americans who don’t pay for news say the main reason is that it’s too expensive (10%) or that the news provided isn’t good enough to pay for (8%).”

If publishers are to grow the subscriber revenues, they need to do more than just double-down on their existing subscribers. They also need to broaden their reach, and that means addressing these issues. 

To do that, media companies must provide more content that audiences feel is high quality, relevant, accessible and beneficial to them. This has to be complemented by the availability of different pricing and payment structures, especially in the face of free to access AI snippets and other readily available content.  

Without this, the subscription needle is likely to remain static, stuck at fewer than one in five news consumers. In the face of diminishing returns from advertising, the status quo – when it comes to reader revenues – will not cut it.

3 strategies for counteracting stagnant subscriptions 

Although subscription growth has stalled across the industry, there are proven strategies and approaches that media companies can deploy to retain and develop their subscriber base. Here are three of them.

1. Bundling 

Bundling strategies are becoming increasingly creative and diverse, promising consumers value for money and access to a cornucopia of content. 

The market leader for this approach is The New York Times. It offers a range of digital packages, including an all-access subscription as well as separate non-news subscriptions covering games, recipes, audio, sport, and product reviews. They also offer two Family subscription models, offering up to four individuals access to either all NYT content, or its Games.

This approach encourages daily habits through non-news content, while also creating an environment for non-new consumers to “bump” into your current affairs coverage. 

For media groups with multiple titles, bundling can be used to offer access to content from across their stable. 

In Europe, an early pioneer of this strategy, +Alt from Amedia, now reaches 16% of Norwegian digital news subscribers. Subscribers can access over 100 newspapers and websites in Norway, as well as exclusive and ad-free podcasts on its Untold app, and sports coverage via Direktesport.no. It’s success has encouraged other Nordic publishers, such as Schibsted and Bonnier, to follow suit. 

Bundling isn’t just confined to your in-house products. As Greg Piechota, Researcher-In-Residence at the International News Media Association (INMA), told me earlier in the year, some companies are  “increasingly partnering with other publishers, even competitors, to engage broader audiences.” 

Nieman Lab’s Hanaa’ Tameez reported in March that the Gray Lady has these type of deals with more 20 publishers, including leading European brands such as Politiken, The Irish Times, El Pais, and FAZ. Nic Newman and Federica Cherubini at the Reuters Institute believe we can “expect to see these deals extended to more publications as a way to reduce churn or differentiate a more expensive product.”

2. New products 

Alongside packaging existing offerings, or those of their partners, publishers are also actively investing in new products and services to attract and retain subscribers. 

Podcasts are an area which continue to hold some promise. According to the Digital News Report, 42% of news podcast listeners, across 20 countries, indicated that they would be prepared to pay for news-related podcasts. 

This interest, which also applies to non-news shows, is driven by the connection listeners form with show hosts and a sense that podcasts can provide a deeper understanding of issues. Podcast monetization is further driven by exclusive content, early access, add-free listening, or separate podcast subscriptions at lower price points. 

The Economist’s Podcast+ package is billed as $41.30 for first year, then auto-renews at $59 annually. Schibsted Media’s podcasting platform, Podme, has over 350,000 paying subscribers.

Elsewhere, media companies are expanding into areas such as games, newsletters and lifestyle verticals like food. 

In an era of profound news fatigue, they are also playing around with different formats and presentation styles. Svenska Dagbladet (SvD), a Swedish newspaper, has found success with its Kompakt app, offering short, digestible summaries of the day’s most important news. Its accessible tone is supported by the tagline “Read less, know more.”  

Similarly, in the UK, The Independent launched “Bulletin,” a service for time-poor readers, which uses Google Gemini, to create article summaries. “A new team of (human) editors will oversee all content and sign off before publication, solving the problem of attribution and fact-checking in many other AI initiatives,” the publication said. 

We can expect to see more outlets follow in their footsteps of SvD and The Independent, creating new products and harnessing AI tools, to reach audiences in a style and time-efficient manner which speak to their needs. Afterall, as Kompakt’s leaders contend, “journalism is too important to be boring.”

3. Flexible payment models 

To attract audiences that may be interested in your paid content, but who are resistant to high prices or long-term financial commitments, publishers are once again experimenting with greater flexibility in payment. Examples include day passes, week passes, or cheaper, more limited subscription propositions. 

Last year, the Torstar newspaper chain in Canada launched a pay-as-you-go model. Accessing a single article cost 75 cents, with daily payments capped at CAN$1.50 for full access.

In Finland, the launch of Uusi Juttu (New Story) by the Danish news organization Zetland included a dedicated membership tier for people on low incomes. Readers could access the site for €25 in the first year, rather than the reduced annual membership of €100 offered more widely to early supporters, journalism.co.uk reported. 

In addition to these approaches, dynamic paywalls are also continuing to become more common place. INMA’s Greg Piechota observes that usage has quadrupled to 22% since 2020 among news brands participating in their benchmarking program.

The benefit of this approach, as The Audiencer’s Madeleine White explains, is that because “every visitor to a publisher’s website is different, this strategy allows for adapted and targeted paywall messaging, subscription offers, and engagement journeys to optimize conversion rates for each ‘type’ of reader.” 

As AI tools behind this personalization continue to improve, expect even more publishers to adopt this paywall model, as well as some of the other tactics designed to make content more accessible and equitable.

Subscriptions today: the takeaway

At first glance, subscription levels appear to be stalled. However, this masks a more complex picture. Publishers are being creative through their use of bundles, partnerships, new and expanded products, as well as innovative pricing models. 

There remain real challenges in terms of overcoming willingness to pay for content, especially news, as well as the very real financial pressures many households are under. Nevertheless, subscription stagnation is not universal. Innovating in both product, and distribution, can make a difference. 

Emphasizing quality and utility, as well as highlighting non-news content, and the wider value proposition, can all play a pivotal role in addressing user needs, thereby helping companies retain subscribers and reduce churn. 

Subscription strategies aren’t failing. Rather, they are reaching a new level of maturity. 

Publishers need to balance deepening relationships with early adopters and their most loyal audiences, while at the same time broadening their appeal by demonstrating value and creating new pathways for reluctant readers. The providers who can navigate this tightrope will be the ones most likely to succeed with their subscription strategies in 2025 and beyond.