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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

ClassPass Raises $285 Million to Expand International Presence

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, FInance, Industry Announcements, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps /

ClassPass, the seven-year-old fitness and wellness marketplace, announced last week that it has raised $285 million in Series E funding. The funding round was led by L Catterton and Apax Digital and included additional investment by current investor Temasek. ClassPass said in the announcement that it would use the new funding to expand its international presence and to focus on growing its corporate wellness sales program. According to TechCrunch, ClassPass has raised close to $550 million to date and is now valued at $1 billion, giving it the coveted status of unicorn.

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McClatchy Launches Political Subscription Product Impact2020

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscriber Acquisition /

McClatchy is taking the 2020 presidential race seriously, and the publisher wants to make its mark with local coverage. To prove it, McClatchy has created a standalone subscription product, Impact2020, for political obsessives who want to examine the Democratic candidates, issues of the day, and the latest political news in a whole new way. Launched in November exactly one year before the election, Impact2020 (Powered by McClatchy DC) curates election coverage across McClatchys 30 newsrooms located in 14 states across the U.S. with reporters and editors in Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Missouri, Kentucky and Texas, among others. White House correspondents will also contribute to the coverage.

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Digital Air Strikes Reports Record Subscription Growth of 32% in 2019

Business Services, Business Strategy, FInance, Industry Announcements, Mergers and Acquisitions, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services /

ast week, Digital Air Strike announced record 2019 results at CES 2020 in Las Vegas. The technology company reported record subscription growth of 32% compared to 2018, its highest year ever. In addition to being a featured panelist at the Automotive News Shift event, Digital Air Strike was named one of Arizonas 20 biggest software companies alongside other tech companies like Axway, GoDaddy, Truyo and Cerner. The technology company offers a range of digital, social media response, consumer engagement and reputation management solutions, working with more than 5,000 car dealerships and other businesses in the U.S., Canada and abroad.

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P&G to Buy Subscription-Based Womens Grooming Brand Billie

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Operations, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Mergers and Acquisitions, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscription Business Marketing /

Starting off the new year strong, Procter & Gamble announced its plans to acquire the subscription-based, direct-to-consumer beauty brand Billie Inc. Billie, who calls itself the new body brand, will complement P&Gs growing female grooming product line which also includes Venus, Braun and Joy. The two-year-old, award-winning Billie offers premium personal care products for women including razors, shaving cream, body wash and body lotion. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

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Weekly Subscription News: Friends, Financial Distress and Fiscal Results

Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, FInance, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscription Apps, Subscription Gaming /

In this week’s subscription headlines, Netflix starts the New Year without ‘Friends,” McClatchy’s financial distress has the company considering a sale, and Disney+ customers are canceling subscriptions after the Mandalorian season ends. Also this week, Comcast and Starz strike a deal, streaming channels score Golden Globes nominations, and Amazon’s Twitch generated more revenue than YouTube gaming in 2019.

Weekly Subscription News: Friends, Financial Distress and Fiscal Results Read More »

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

Five on Friday: Ebooks, Banking and Barber Shops

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Media and Publishing, Business Operations, Business Services, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, Memberships, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscriber Only, Subscription Apps, Subscription Boxes, Subscription Gaming /

We are just 10 days into the New Year, and the international headlines are grabbing everyone’s attention. Check out today’s Five on Friday for a pleasant distraction. In this week’s edition, the Boardroom Salon for Men has made unlimited haircuts possible with a barber shop membership in select markets; Zuora discusses its thoughts on how subscriptions might be the future of banking; Apple’s App Store made more than $50 billion last year, but can it keep up the pace; Forbes thinks the 2020s are finally the right time for ebooks; and LinkedIn shares top subscription jobs.

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SiriusXM Hits Record-High 34.9 Million Subscribers in 2019

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps /

The numbers arent all in yet, but SiriusXMs preliminary results show the company did exceptionally well in 2019. In fact, their total subscriber base has reached a record-high 34.9 million, including the addition of 1.063 million net self-pay subscribers. This brings the total number of SiriusXM self-pay subscribers to 30 million, exceeding the companys initial guidance for subscribers. The company also expects to exceed its full year 2019 guidance for revenue, adjusted EBITDA and free cash flow. It will report its complete fourth quarter and full-year 2019 financial results on February 4, 2020.

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TiVo to Launch TiVo Stream 4K to Compete with Roku and FireTV

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, Entertainment and Streaming, Free Subscription, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, Subscription Apps /

Just when you thought the streaming wars were confined to AVOD and SVOD services, TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) adds a new wrinkle. Cord cutters now have a new way to access their favorite shows. This week, at CES 2020, TiVo announced the launch of its new TiVo Stream 4K streaming player. The device will allow viewers to access streaming subscription services like Netflix, Prime Video, Hulu and Sling TV as well as ad-supported free services seamlessly.

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McClatchy Freezes Some Employee Pensions to Try to Stabilize Finances

Business Operations, Business Strategy, FInance, Industry Announcements, News, Regulation and Compliance /

The McClatchy Company announced last week that it plans to freeze certain nonqualified supplemental executive retirement benefits for a small number of pension plan participants as the company tries to stabilize a dire financial situation. The announcement was a follow-up to the companys third quarter earnings report in which the company said it requested a waiver from the Internal Revenue Service for defined benefit pension plan obligations for 2019, 2020 and 2021. The IRS denied the request.

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Cengage Unlimited Subscription Has Saved Students $125 Million

Auto-renew Subscription, Business Strategy, Consumer Services, FInance, Industry Announcements, Learning and Training, News, Product Development, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscription Apps /

Sixteen months after its launch, education and technology company Cengage has sold 2 million Cengage Unlimited subscriptions, saving college students an estimated $125 million in digital textbooks, ebooks, study guides and other online resources. The subscription program is expected to save students a total of $160 million by the end of the current academic year. The subscriptions are all-inclusive. For one flat-rate, students get unlimited access to Cengages full library of online materials for a term, ranging from four months to two years.

Cengage Unlimited Subscription Has Saved Students $125 Million Read More »