Why News Subscriptions Will Never Scale Like Netflix - Issue #88

This chart of media consumption in the Netherlands in 2018 shows why we have a hard time beating the numbers of Netflix and Spotify in the news industry. Reading (yellow) is simply a smaller part of media consumption of everyone and especially younger segments. I am sure this is true in other countries as well. So although in the news industry we should go after converting people to digital subscriptions, we have more limits on converting and retaining large pieces of our populations due to less time spent.

We have no other choice, but to venture into audio and video. These purple and blue parts are too large to ignore. Moreover, we must make sure we can secure direct relationships with listeners of podcasts, in stead of having Spotify and Apple reap the benefits. And premium video is a road all publishers must head into, perhaps supported bu text for SEO.

On a funny note that explains all those hours on watching, read this article where farmers binge-watch Netflix in massage chairs as they drive their ploughs (WSJ paywall in link). 

Being a Quartz Member ($100/year) will now be required for access to all of its stories — one more case of a quality publisher finding that advertising revenue isn’t enough to allow a readership without limits. More on paywalls if you are interested. Some nice insights for data teams into how The Economist worked its way to a hard paywall, just showing to paragraphs. No more articles for free. This is a general trend I guess.