#17 - Life Without Subscription

With all the free options to be informed, entertained and inspired online it’s maybe no surprise that people are reconsidering their subscriptions. Recent data from Lloyds Bank found over half a million subscription payments have been cancelled in the UK since 2021 due to consumers feeling the financial pinch.

In the end it comes down to one question: Is it worth my money? In that regard, BBC (which has a license fee) recently set up a very interesting experiment. They cut 80 households off all their content and then examined how much their offer was missed. The study provides a unique insight into what people consider important enough to pay for.

This and more in this week’s Wayfinder, 

IN FOCUS

In a suprise announcement Snap inc, this week said that revenue and earnings were below target and that they expect a slowdown in advertising. The market swiftly cut 43% off its market value in the largest single day decline in the company’s history. 

The Snap news is moving through the media world quickly. Suddenly the online business model of social media doesn't feel so solid anymore in the face of changes in the ad market. It's time to revisit what makes digital media business models work.

REVENUE

Publishers can extract additional revenue from subscriptions by tying billing cycles to 4-week periods instead of calendar months. It’s a tactic currently being used by major news publishers including The New York Times and The Washington Post among others. The appeal of 4-week is simple: It enables them to charge subscribers 13 times per year instead of 12.

Frequent readers are more valuable than those who only stop by occasionally and read a lot, according to a recent analysis of reader data from the Medill School of Journalism. The research confirms similar research by Mather Economics. The key to keeping readers is building habit and having an offer that regularly leads readers back to you.

NEWS & PRODUCT

Journalism.co.uk interviewed the recently appointed executive director of the News Product Alliance (NPA), Feli Carrique and summarized what journalists need to know about product thinking.

At the WAN-IFRA Asia Summit AP outlined how it is using artificial intelligence in the newsroom. The applications range from managing information flows to producing audio-to-text transcriptions, helping with text-to-text translations and more.

And The Economist considers an audio paywall as their podcasts reach 3m people a month.

SHORT

• Volvo Cars bring Epic’s Unreal Engine game engine into upcoming Volvo cars.
• TikTok released a new guide for marketers on how to create effective TikToks.
• PimEyes, a new facial recognition search enging is alarming privacy experts.
• The BBC announced drastic cuts in order to become a digital-first outlet.
• Sheryl Sandberg announced she is stepping down as chief operating officer of Meta.
• Google’s new text to image AI delivers unprecedented photorealism.
• This year, TikTok will surpass YouTube in terms of time spent.

INNOVATION

The International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is launching a news innovation lab: LEAP Leap is designed to give newsrooms across the world the space to explore the most essential challenges confronting journalism today and to shape its future. More info here.

The delightful folks at the Copenhagen Institute for Future Studies have written an excellent whitepaper exploring four scenarios for the immersive Metaverse. Another guide? Yes, but a good one!

And if you think it’s all science-fiction you might want to check this post by Niantic. They are building a new 3D map of the physical world that can underpin a truly shared, immersive AR experience. 

OPPORTUNITIES

The C+J Conference, organised by the Brown Institute for Media Innovation, on 9-11 June has an agenda packed with valuable insights at the intersection of journalism and artificial intelligence.

On June 17th 'The Journalism Creator Summit' takes a look at Web3 and what it means for media.

The Investigative Journalism for Europe fund is back with €1.23 million for cross-border investigations in EU.

If you missed the INMA World Congress of News Media you can read the biggest take-aways on the INMA-blog.

And don't miss these insights on reader revenue and the future of newsletters from Newsrewired.

READ

Google is broken. What started as a well-intentioned way to organize the world’s information has turned into a business focusing most of its resources on monetizing clicks to support advertisers, rather than focusing on delivering trusted search results for people. According to AZ16 there’s an opportunity to build boutique search engines that index, curate, and organize things in new ways.

The people at Twipe keep an excellent blog. Here are two recent pieces worth checking out.

• A summary of the recent WAN-IFRA World Press Trends Report 2021-2022.
• A deep dive into the role of print for publishers: revenue generator but at a much higher cost.

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Wayfinder is back next week! As always feel free to share the newsletter with friends & colleagues!

Ezra