The Times & The Sunday Times post £1.7 million profit, first profit in 13 years

After 13 years in the red, including four years behind a paywall, The Times and The Sunday Times, owned by News U.K., a Rupert

After 13 years in the red, including four years behind a paywall, The Times and The Sunday Times, owned by News U.K., a Rupert Murdoch company, have finished in the black – posting a profit of £1.7 million! Considering its £6 million loss in 2013 and a £70 million loss five years ago, this turnaround is quite impressive.How did The Times and The Sunday Times do it? By balancing multiple revenue streams (subscriptions, ad revenue, partnerships) and cutting costs. According to a Dec. 7 article in the Guardian, the newspapers made significant cost cutting measures including reducing staff, moving to new (cheaper) offices, forging lucrative partnerships, and adding two new editors to freshen appeal to readers.It seems to be working – look at the numbers:

  • Print circulation is up 1%.
  • Digital circulation is up 8%.
  • Total paid circulation is up 3%.
  • 170,000 readers are digital-only subscribers, a 12% increase.
  • 390,000 readers subscribe to print + digital.
  • 44% of revenue comes from ad sales.

After staggering losses, The Times and The Sunday Times appear to have found their sweet spot. What can we learn from their success?

  1. A hybrid model of advertising, subscriptions and special contracts and partnerships, similar to ArkansasOnline.com (see our case study on Subscription Side Insider), creates sustainable revenue streams.
  1. Paid trials are best. The Times and The Sunday Times offer a 30-day trial for £1, so the subscriber has a vested interest – albeit tiny – in accessing or reading the print and digital content. But getting trial-takers to use access content is critical to getting them to convert. Plus, with a paid trial, you already have a prospect’s credit card or banking information, making conversion to a paid subscription easier.
  1. Readers want choices. The Times and The Sunday Times offer seven different membership options, including various combinations of print + digital subscriptions (daily, Sunday or both), along with “free” bonuses like wine and free subscriptions to Spotify Premium for 12 months.
  1. Readers want their content when and where they want it, so the publications offer print, tablet, smartphone and desktop editions, each with different features. The tablet edition is particularly popular with iPad users who spend an average of 47 minutes a day reading.

Bottom line: despite those who “poo poo” paywalls and predict they will kill newspapers, News U.K. is proving otherwise. Hybrid models and smart business practices, like cutting costs and catering to subscribers, can be profitable, even for companies who have spent years in the red. A little creativity, ingenuity and a lot of hard work are required, but the digital landscape is far from being the death knell of newspapers that doomsayers predicted. 

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