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Dana E. Neuts

Dana Neuts is Subscription Insider's Editorial Director, covering our daily subscription news as well as member features, case studies, premium content, and reports. Dana is also a writer, editor, marketer and communications professional. Her work has appeared in AARP Bulletin, The Seattle Times, Seattle Business, 425 Business, 425 Magazine, South Sound Magazine, Northwest Travel and more. Her specialties include business writing, community news, senior issues, travel and, of course, subscriptions!

Dana E. Neuts

Los Angeles Times Staff Get Voluntary Buyout Offers

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Last week, The California Times, the owner of the Los Angeles Times, the San Diego Union-Tribune and several community papers, made voluntary buyout offers to staff with two or more years of service, reports CNN. Billionaire Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong bought the newspapers in June 2018 from Tribune Publishing (previously called Tronc), returning the newspapers to local ownership. Employees were notified of the voluntary buyout offers via email.

Los Angeles Times Staff Get Voluntary Buyout Offers Read More »

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Weekly Subscription News: Learning, Lingerie and Luminary

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, Freemium, Learning and Training, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscription Apps, Subscription Boxes /

This week’s subscription headlines cover everything from annual learning subscriptions by Coursera and potentially deceptive business practices by Rihanna’s lingerie line to testing subscription bundles and offering free content to nonsubscribers. In addition, Birchbox lays off workers (could this be a trend?); Luminary is expanding globally, which could create podcasting wars; and Downing Street wants BBC to switch to a subscription model.

Weekly Subscription News: Learning, Lingerie and Luminary Read More »

illustration of the number five, representing the five subscription business topics for this column, Five-on-Friday

Five on Friday: Goal Setting, Guidelines and Global OTT

Business Operations, Business Services, Consumer Services, Data and IoT, Entertainment and Streaming, News, Product Development, Regulation and Compliance, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscriber Only /

Happy Friday, everyone! Knee deep in presidential debates and caucuses, we hope you are ready for a productive distraction with our Friday features. In this week’s edition, we look at the global OTT market and its projected growth over the next five years. Also, the FTC is reviewing influencer and sponsored content guidelines, the Association of National Advertisers has a mixed reaction to the proposed privacy rules in California, Patreon is lending money to creators for big projects, and Shopify shares five tools for helping you achieve your 2020 goals.

Five on Friday: Goal Setting, Guidelines and Global OTT Read More »

Subscription Furniture Service Feather Raises $30M to Fund Expansion

Business Operations, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, FInance, Industry Announcements, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscriber Acquisition /

Forget furniture rentals of the past with their heavy chrome and faux leather features. Feather, a new type of subscription furniture rental service with a modern sense of style, has just raised $30 million to fuel its expansion, reports Interior Design. The Series B funding round was led by Cobalt Capital and included participation from previous investors including Spark Capital, Kleiner Perkins, Bain Capital Ventures, Y Combinator, SV Angel, PJC, Fuel Capital and others. This brings the total equity funding raised to date to $46 million.

Subscription Furniture Service Feather Raises $30M to Fund Expansion Read More »

Nissan to Launch ‘Nissan Switch’ Car Subscription in Houston

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Nissan is the latest automaker to take the subscription model for a test drive. Yesterday, Nissan announced it is launching, Nissan Switch, a new car subscription service in the greater Houston area. After paying a $495 activation fee, drivers can subscribe to Nissan Switch for $699 to $899 a month, plus $100 per day for up to seven days if driving the Nissan GT-R. As an added bonus, drivers can change vehicles in their tier as often as daily! Similar to other auto subscriptions, Nissan Switch’s monthly subscription fee includes insurance, maintenance, roadside assistance, cleaning, taxes and more. Subscribers can sign up to drive a variety of models of Nissans without a long-term commitment. There is, however, a $200 pause fee for subscribers to put their subscriptions on hold.

Nissan to Launch ‘Nissan Switch’ Car Subscription in Houston Read More »

Meredith Reports Lower Revenue But Higher Earnings for Q2 FY2020

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Meredith Corp’s second quarter earnings report for fiscal year 2020 was a mixed bag. The media and marketing company calls the quarter “strong” and reaffirms its full year 2020 guidance, but the results weren’t all rosy. For example, total company revenue was $810.5 million, compared to $878.4 million for the same period last year. Meredith attributes this decline to lower political spot advertising revenue in its Local Media Group and lower advertising and subscription revenue in its National Media Group, due to changes in the company’s portfolio and operations.

Meredith Reports Lower Revenue But Higher Earnings for Q2 FY2020 Read More »

Apple logo on building

YouTube TV Cuts Off Apple’s In-App Subscriptions Starting in March

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, News, Payment Processing, Paywall, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscription Apps /

Last week, Google’s YouTube notified YouTube TV customers they won’t be able to pay for their subscriptions via the App Store anymore, starting in March, reports Mac Rumors. Subscribers will have to find another way to pay for their subscriptions, or their subscriptions will be canceled altogether. Customers will be billed one final time through the App Store’s in-app purchases, and then subscriptions will be canceled automatically either on their billing date or after March 13, 2020.

YouTube TV Cuts Off Apple’s In-App Subscriptions Starting in March Read More »

McClatchy Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Works Toward Restructuring

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While many were celebrating Valentine’s Day, McClatchy was not enjoying hearts and flowers. Instead, McClatchy Co. was trying desperately to save itself and 53 wholly owned subsidiaries by filing a voluntary Chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York. Filing a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition provides the company with immediate protection while it tries to reach an agreement with secured lenders, bondholders, and the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation (PBGC).

McClatchy Files Chapter 11 Bankruptcy, Works Toward Restructuring Read More »

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Weekly Subscription News: Streaming, Gaming and Ad Blocking

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, News, Payment Processing, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscription Boxes, Subscription Gaming /

This week, we’ve got streaming, gaming and ad blocking news: Steam grows to nearly 95 million monthly active users, Netflix plans to use animation to complete with Disney Plus, and Google Chrome’s new feature will block the most annoying video ads. Also this week, the 165-year-old Montgomery Sentinel closes up shop, Birchbox lays off half of its New York City staff, and Paystand raises $20 million to give businesses a frictionless, open infrastructure option for commercial finance.

Weekly Subscription News: Streaming, Gaming and Ad Blocking Read More »

illustration of the number five, representing the five subscription business topics for this column, Five-on-Friday

Five on Friday: Adblocking, Advertising and Influencing

Auto-renew Subscription, Best Practice and How To, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, FInance, Industry Announcements, News, Product Development, Regulation and Compliance, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscriber Only, Subscription Business Marketing /

Happy Valentine’s Day! In this week’s edition of Five on Friday, we share highlights from Blockthrough/PageFair’s 2020 adblocking report to see how adblocking is moving to mobile, YouTube’s advertising revenue hits a staggering $15 billion in 2019, Content Marketing Institute schools us on what we need to know about vanity metrics, Canada warns brands and influencers to follow the rules, and Flipboard launches a subscription video service.

Five on Friday: Adblocking, Advertising and Influencing Read More »