Weekly Subscription News: Planning, Poaching and Pay TV

The Athletic hopes to boost subscribers with cross-marketing deals, Instagram Reels plans to poach creators and Twitter confirms it may add subscriptions after 2020.

In this week’s subscription headlines, the BBC plans an online pay TV subscription service, Twitter confirms it is working on a subscription service but it won’t be ready this year, and BuzzFeed lays off 50 people after losing advertising revenue. Also, The Athletic is hoping cross-marketing deals will boost subscriptions, Apple is offering past Apple News+ subscriber another free month, and Facebook will pay a $650 million settlement over facial recognition.

BBC Plans Online Pay TV Subscription Service
InformITV

Apple Offers Past Apple News+ Subscribers Another Free Month
Apple Insider

The Athletic Looking to Boost Subscribers with Cross-Marketing Deals
Front Office Sports

Twitter Confirms It May Add Subscriptions But Not in 2020
Digital Trends

Cord Cutting by Pay TV Subscribers Contributes to Reduction in Verizon Revenue
Forbes

Facebook’s Sad Summer Continues with $650M Settlement over Facial Recognition
Recode/Vox

BuzzFeed Lays Off 50 After Pandemic Hurts Lucrative Ad Deals
Bloomberg

TikTok Competitor Instagram Reels Is Reportedly Looking to Poach Creators with Six-Figure Payments
Tubefilter

Filed in Business Operations, Business Strategy, Entertainment and Streaming, Free Subscription, Industry Announcements, News, Product Development, Revenue and Sales, SaaS and Cloud Services, Subscriber Acquisition, Subscription Apps, Subscription Business Marketing

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!