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

Five on Friday: Job Opportunities, Increases and Injunctions

Featuring The New York Times, the FTC, Edgewell and LinkedIn

Five on Friday: Job Opportunities

Source: Bigstock Photo

Happy February, Five on Friday fans! In this week’s edition, The New York Times raises its prices for digital subscriptions for the first time since putting up its paywall in 2011, the FTC is blocking Edgewell’s acquisition of Harry’s, The Minneapolis Star-Tribune hangs onto its print subscribers while growing its digital subscriber base, AdExchanger explains why it thinks publishers’ ad and marketing teams need to work together, and LinkedIn shares top subscription jobs. 

 

 

The New York Times Increases Digital Subscription Price 13%

 Increases and Injunctions

Source: The New York Times

The New York Times is increasing the price of a digital subscription for the first time since implementing digital subscriptions in 2011, reports KTVZ.com. Instead of paying $15 every four weeks, subscribers will now pay $2 more, or $17 every four weeks. This represents a 13% price increase. The change goes into effect March 8. It is not yet known if the price increase applies to new and existing subscribers or just new subscribers.

According to the media company’s January 14 report card, 2019 was a good year for The Times. Here are a few highlights:

  • In 2019, the newspaper surpassed $800 million in annual digital revenue a year ahead of its goal.
  • The media company added more than 1 million net digital subscribers in 2019.
  • The New York Times now has more than 5 million total subscribers, an all-time high. This includes 3.4 million subscribers to their primary news product, more than 300,000 to NYT Cooking, 600,000 to NYT Crossword, and close to 900,000 print subscribers.

The company released its complete fourth quarter and full-year 2019 results yesterday.

[Editor’s Note: I am a subscriber to The New York Times and have not yet received a notice of the increase.]

FTC Sues to Block Edgewell’s Acquisition of Shave Club Harry’s

Five on Friday: Job Opportunities

Source: FTC

While many Americans were recovering from their Super Bowl hangovers and football withdrawals, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was playing ball with Edgewell Personal Care Company. The FTC announced Monday that it would sue to block Edgewell’s $1.37 billion acquisition of Harry’s, Inc., a subscription-based, direct-to-consumer shave club.

“The loss of Harry’s as an independent competitor would remove a critical disruptive rival that has driven down prices and spurred innovation in an industry that was previously dominated by two main suppliers, one of whom is the acquirer,” said the FTC in a news release.

By filing an administrative complaint, the FTC is requiring a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction pending the outcome of an administrative trial. The trial is scheduled to begin June 30, 2020.

“Harry’s is a uniquely disruptive competitor in the wet shave market, and it has forced its rivals to offer lower prices, and more options, to consumers across the country,” said Daniel Francis, Deputy Director of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition. “The Harry’s and Flamingo brands represent a significant and growing competitive threat to the two firms that have dominated the wet shaving market for decades. Edgewell’s effort to short-circuit competition by buying up its newer rival promises serious harm to consumers.”

The Minneapolis Star Tribune Retains Print Subscribers While Growing Digital 

 Increases and Injunctions

Source: Minneapolis Star Tribune

The 153-year-old Minneapolis Star Tribune may have changed a lot over the years, but the legacy news brand is still going strong. It has gone through ownership changes, mergers, business model adjustments and relocations. Despite all the changes, the newspaper still has a loyal following. In fact, the newspaper is able to retain its print audience while also growing a digital one in a new era of journalism. According to a recent Poynter article, the Star Tribune has 90,000 paid digital subscribers, and it is on pace to grow to 150,000 digital subscribers by 2025.

Unlike many struggling newspapers, the Star Tribune has been able to maintain a print subscriber base, particularly on Sundays, says Poynter. In fact, the newspaper’s paid Sunday circulation is more than 261,000, the fifth highest in the country. Publisher and CEO Mike Klingensmith told Poynter that the future is digital, but their current reality is print and digital. How do they do it? Here are a few pointers shared with Poynter by Star Tribune alum:

  • The paywall is triggered by visits per day, not by article count.
  • The newspaper offers a deep discount for the first month of a subscription (e.g., $0.99).
  • The newspaper does not try to retain canceling subscribers by offering a special deal.
  • Print subscribers, whether they get newspapers seven days a week or just two days a week, can access the digital site for free. If they are Sunday only subscribers, however, they pay extra for a digital subscription. Of 94,000 Sunday-only print subscribers, 20,000 pay extra for digital access.

For more success secrets, read Rick Edmonds’ article, “How the Minneapolis Star Is Driving Paid Digital Growth While Holding onto Print Subscribers” at Poynter.org.

AdExchanger: Publishers Need Their Advertising and Marketing Staff to Team Up 

Five on Friday: Job Opportunities

Source: Bigstock Photo

In the past, media organizations have tried hard to separate the editorial side of the house from the marketing and advertising sides. The editorial side needs to be able to publish unbiased news and features without influence from advertisers. In a January 31, 2020 article by AdExchanger, the ad expert suggests that the advertising and marketing staff need to start working together. What would this look like?

AdExchanger explains that publishers with paywalls – and the marketing staff tasked with finding subscribers – need to understand their prospects. They can do this by collecting data about their readers, gleaned from what they read and how they interact with their content. This is right up the alley of advertising staff who use data insights to optimize ads. By pairing ad and marketing teams together, publishers can gain valuable information their readers’ habits, so they can tailor their offerings.

AdExchanger talked to Jay Glogovsky, senior director of revenue analytics and operations for The New York Times, and the partnership between their advertising and marketing staff.

“To truly understand how our customers engage with our site, apps and our newsletters, and to use those data-driven insights to determine our strategy, we needed to bring our marketing and advertising teams closer together,” said Glogovsky.

Lean more about this concept in “Publisher Advertising and Marketing Teams Are Starting to Converge” on AdExchanger.com. 

Top Subscription Jobs

 Increases and Injunctions

Source: LinkedIn

Senior Content Manager, Strategic Marketing
Spotify
New York City, NY

Spotify’s global Strategic Marketing team is seeking a full time Senior Content Manager to create partner-facing content and development of sales narratives that showcase Spotify’s value proposition and market leading solutions to its audience of Global advertisers and brand partners. The right candidate has a strong digital media background, with a proven track record of leading the creation of content for sales organizations and driving cross-functional work streams that align content strategy to business objectives and communication objectives of Spotify for Brands. Read more

Senior Manager, Content Acquisition, Prime Video Channels
Amazon
Seattle, WA

Prime Video Channels is looking for exceptionally talented, bright and driven people. Prime Video is fast becoming one of the major global players in digital entertainment. We are changing the way millions of customers enjoy movies and TV shows through Amazon Prime, new releases for rent or purchase, and subscription through Prime Video Channels. Prime Video Channels, launched in 2015, distributes video channels OTT including HBO, Showtime, Starz, Acorn TV, PBS Masterpiece and many more channels without a cable subscription. Read more.

Director, Program Management (Petcare Subscription Services)
VCA Animal Hospitals
Los Angeles. CA

As Director of Program Management, you will be responsible for the management and growth of VCA’s pet healthcare subscription services under the VCA CareClub brand, as well as the strategy, development and launch of new products within the VCA CareClub portfolio. VCA CareClub plans include unlimited exams, 24/7 live chat with an on-call veterinarian, essential vaccines and blood work, with savings up to 25% and payable via an affordable monthly membership fee. CareClub is offered in 800+ VCA Animal Hospitals across the US and Canada. Read more.

Subscription Marketing Lead, Apple News
Apple
Cupertino, CA

We’re looking for an enthusiastic and expert Subscription marketer to lead customer acquisition for Apple News. The ideal candidate has experience with subscription business models, and applying that knowledge to devise compelling marketing strategies. This individual will lead the development of customer acquisition (UA) and lifecycle strategies across paid, owned, and earned media channels. This role leads the coordination amongst the channel teams to bring together all aspects of a user’s lifecycle- from customer segmentation, acquisition, to delivering long-term retention and winback. This role will have a high level of visibility within the marketing organization and contribute to a fast-paced marketing team. Read more.

Subscription Operations Group Director
Citrix
Fort Lauderdale, FL

In the role of Subscription Operations Group Director, you will be responsible for building and unifying our sales and business operations, into a global operating unit, designed for optimizing on time renewal rates, customer retention and maximizing ARR, as we continue to accelerate our shift to Cloud. This position is designed to centralize and standardize our current GEO operating constructs and GTM methodologies, for both Perpetual Renewals as well as Cloud Subscriptions, into a single global structure designed for scale.You will work closely with the wider Business Intelligence teams to create one single source of truth and global governance for this part of the Citrix business. Read more.

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