Online subscriptions to news websites worldwide 2023

The New York Times had 9.4 million digital subscribers as of September 2023, making the publication the global leader in this regard, followed by The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post with 3.5 million and 2.5 million online news subscribers respectively. The source noted that The Washington Post lost subscribers whereas other publishers in the ranking generally saw an increase. The Post’s losses were partially attributed to a post-Trump slump in reporting following Biden’s election.

Digital subscriptions – the future for news publishers?

Subscriptions were cited as the most important digital revenue stream for publishers worldwide in every year from 2021 to 2023, ahead of advertising. As subscriptions have increased, customer retention has also become a growing concern, and according to the aforementioned subscriber losses experienced by The Washington Post, is a well-founded one. Retaining paying members is crucial to achieve growth, and publishers must keep abreast of their users’ needs and industry trends in order to do this.

The challenge to achieve sign-ups

Converting readers to becoming paying subscribers to news products is challenging. Even video streaming services are experiencing churn. A 2022 survey revealed that 20 percent of U.S. subscribers aged 18 to 34 years old canceled between two and five subscriptions in the three months running up to the survey. If consumers are sacrificing more popular entertainment subscriptions to save money, news subscriptions could also suffer. In fact, 28 percent of U.S. subscribers canceled their news subscription* in the last year, a figure which could grow higher as the recession worsens and trust continues to fall.