Happy May! As the days get longer, we’ve got plenty of great subscription articles to share including how fitness subscriptions are making exercise and personal training at home more convenient, Meredith Corp. has Sports Illustrated on the bidding block and Authentic Brands appears to be the frontrunner, Facebook announces a major redesign, Instagram is testing a feature that hides likes and view counts, and LinkedIn shares top subscription jobs.

Fitness Subscriptions Make Working Out More Accessible and More Affordable

No time or budget for the gym? No problem. Fitness companies are making it easier for people to exercise at their own pace in their own homes, using the subscription model to make working out accessible to more users. PYMTS.com writes about Livekick, which offers private workouts, personalized training, flexible scheduling with month-to-month subscription payments. Prices start at $32 per week for one session and go up to $80 per week for three sessions, following a two-week free trial.

Other exercise-on-demand subscription services available are Obé Fitness, which offers unlimited access to 14 live classes daily and 1,000+ on-demand classes for $27 a month, and Daily Burn allows subscribers to access thousands of workout videos and to track their progress for just $15 a month. Have a Fitbit? Fitbit offers Fitbit Coach, a personal training app, that gives subscribers access to unlimited, adaptive video workouts and audio coaching for $39.99 a year.

Fitness subscriptions have made it easier for people to fit fitness into their lives where and when they want – and at prices they can afford. While the vehicle – streaming apps – may be new, the idea of paying for fitness monthly is not new. Businesses like 24 Hour Fitness and L.A. Fitness have been doing it for years, often requiring a down payment and a firm commitment up front. The subscription model improves upon this system by offering more flexibility and fitness programs that can be tailored to each individual subscriber’s needs.

Meredith In Talks to Sell Sports Illustrated; ESPN to Discontinue Print Edition  

It looks like Meredith Corp. may have a buyer for Sports Illustrated Inc. –  Authentic Brands Group LLC, owner of brands including Nine West, Jones New York, Nautica and Juicy Couture. Authentic Brands also owns the estates of Muhammad Ali, Marilyn Monroe and Elvis. According to Market Watch, the bid is about $110 million.

Sports Illustrated was purchased by Meredith as part of the Time Inc. deal in November 2017. Since the beginning, Meredith hinted that it would probably not hang onto Time, Sports Illustrated, Fortune and Money, because they were not consistent with Meredith’s core products – lifestyle publications aimed at a female audience.

According to Awful Announcing, if ABG buys Sports Illustrated, the magazine would likely not be the same. Sources say that the print publication would probably continue for a couple of years, but then likely go away as ABG capitalizes on using the brand in other ways. No one knows if the digital version of Sports Illustrated would continue in its current format.

Sports Illustrated isn’t the only sports magazine in jeopardy. Earlier this week, ESPN announced it would discontinue its print magazine after its September issue.

“Our journalists will continue to create the same exceptional content. Consumer habits are evolving rapidly, and this requires ESPN to evolve as well. The only change here is that we are moving away from printing it on paper and sending it in the mail, following September’s release of The Body Issue. Our data shows the vast majority of readers already consume our print journalism on digital platforms, and this approach will maximize our reach and impact. In the future, we will explore releasing tentpole collections such as Body in special, differentiated print formats,” said ESPN in a statement.

Facebook’s Redesign Focuses on Groups, Events and Privacy 

“The future is private,” said Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg at the company’s recent F8 developer conference. He also revealed a major redesign of the Facebook mobile app and a desktop site, reports The New York Times. With the redesign, Facebook users will find it easier to send messages to each other, share news and other information with friends and other contacts in private groups. Users can also expect to see Facebook integrate and encrypt its two messaging apps – Messenger and WhatsApp.  

A review of the redesign, dubbed FB5, by Engadget reveals that the “new” Facebook is cleaner, faster and focuses on groups versus individuals, as well as events. Groups will look different and Facebook has added a discovery feature to recommend possible Groups that Facebook users might be interested in. In news feeds, group info. is more likely than before to show up, as Facebook pushes for more private – and less public – interactions.

As far as privacy, well, how Facebook will tackle that remains to be seen. Its reputation has taken a hit in recent years for its data breaches, unauthorized sharing of data and its handling of the scandals. Adding more security and privacy is a good thing, and necessary given the trouble Facebook is getting into with the FTC. However, we wonder if Facebook is redesigning its platform because that’s what the company wants to do – or because that’s what users really want.

Instagram May Be Hiding Your Likes and View Counts As It Tests New Feature in Canada

According to a report by Today, Instagram is testing a feature in Canada that hides likes and video view counts in user feeds, permalink pages and profiles. In a test message, Instagram tells users that they want followers to focus on what users are sharing, not on how many likes a post has gotten. During the test, only the account holder will be able to view the number of likes posts get.

Why the change? Today says the new feature “could conceivably reduce the anxiety, envy and low self-esteem” that users may feel when they don’t get enough likes. Today also says this could encourage people to be more authentic in their posts, rather than posting things simply to generate likes. Ashley Carman for The Verge disagrees. She believes the change could “fundamentally change the platform” and disincentivize users from posting interesting content.

A possible downside is how this might impact social influencers who brands pay to promote their products. At the F8 conference, Facebook confirmed it was testing this feature. The company did not say whether the feature would be rolled out to a larger test audience, or be tested in the U.S., in the future.

LinkedIn: Top Subscription Jobs

Subsription Sales Executive
Fruitnet Media International
London, U.K.

The Subscription Sales Executive works under the guidance and support of the Marketing Manager to sell new print and online subscriptions for six print titles to new customers and to manage repeat subscriptions of existing business customers in the UK and the rest of the world. Leads are generated from editorial and ad sales teams as well as from trade shows and other industry sources. You are the sole person responsible for subscription sales, working in a larger team which puts together six industry-leading print magazines as well as online news and information services and leading industry conference events all over the world. Read more.

Partner Growth Manager
The Roku Channel Premium Subscriptions
New York, NY

The Partner Growth Manager, TRC Premium Subscriptions is responsible for the overall partner success of key partners on The Roku Channel as well as the broader success of TRC subscription partners on the Roku Platform. Success is measured by delivering on and exceeding expectations with respect to subscriber acquisition, user engagement (as defined by reach, streaming hours and subscriber retention), financial results (revenue, gross profit) and other key health and growth metrics. Read more.

Senior Customer Engagement Marketing Manager
Tableau Software
Seattle, WA

The Senior Customer Engagement Marketing Manager’s responsibilities include ownership of complex engagement programs and strategy. The Senior Customer Engagement Marketing Manager is a critical role on our global marketing demand generation team, and a significant contributor to drive overall customer engagement and lifecycle program strategy and end to end customer experience. This role will lead program collaboration across all departments in Marketing, Customer Success and Sales. Read more.

Senior Product Manager – Paid Subscription Services
Sony PlayStation
San Francisco, CA

We are looking for a seasoned Product Manager to help innovate and execute our product roadmap for our premium game subscription services such as PlayStation®Plus, working closely with our engineering and design team. This position is full-time and based at our San Francisco office. Responsibilities include lead the ideation, technical development and launch of innovative products and features; established shared vision across the company by building consensus on priorities leading to product execution… Read more.

Managing Editor, Pittsburgh
The Athletic
Pittsburgh, PA

The Athletic, a subscription-based media publisher of smarter sports coverage for die-hard fans, is seeking a Managing Editor for The Athletic Pittsburgh. This is a senior role leading a growing staff of ambitious and talented writers and editors. The ideal candidate will have managed an editorial team, overseen creative and cutting-edge content, run financial budgets and have boundless energy for telling great stories. Responsibilities include editorial oversight of coverage of Pittsburgh sports and management of full-time staff, big-picture, conceptual vision for the vertical… Read more.