Scribd Adds Newspapers to Subscription Reading Service

All-you-can-read subscription service Scribd is evolving once again, adding newspaper content including articles from The New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, the

Subscription News: Scribd Adds Newspapers to Subscription Reading Service

Source: Scribd

All-you-can-read subscription service Scribd is evolving once again, adding newspaper content including articles from The New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, the Guardian, NPR and ProPublica, reports Publishers Weekly. Scribd is not, however, changing its pricing. Subscribers will still pay $8.99 a month for access to three books, one audiobook and unlimited access to select magazines, news articles and documents, following a 30-day free trial. Scribd does not plan to offer breaking news, but it will focus on national and international stories, particularly longform, evergreen content curated by former journalists.

Publishers Weekly also said that Scribd, which launched its e-book service in 2013, is in its first year of profitability and CEO Trip Adler estimates the company will earn more than $50 million in revenue this year from more than 500,000 paying subscribers. In addition to adding newspapers, the company will redesign its local and update its website.

Since early 2016, Scribd has gone through a series of changes. In February 2016, Scribd announced that it would no longer offer unlimited reading, changing to monthly reading credits instead where subscribers could access three e-books and one audiobook per month. In November 2016, the company added popular magazines to its subscription service, offering current and archived articles from a rotating selection of magazines including Time, Money, Fortune, People and Bloomberg Business, and in January 2017, Scribd pulled digital comics from its reading service.

Subscription News: Scribd Adds Newspapers to Subscription Reading Service

Source: Scribd

The latest change – adding newspaper content – will help readers discover new content, said Adler in the Publishers Weekly article. “We’re continuing to help our publishing and trusted news partners reach new audiences,” he said.

In a Venture Beat article, Adler said, “The holistic reading experience we present through books, audiobooks, magazines and now premium newspapers will continue to keep our in-the-know readers both informed and engaged in what’s going on in the world. Additionally, we’re continuing to help our publishing and trusted news partners reach new audiences.”

Scribd said it has 80 million monthly readers in 194 countries who have spent 17.6 million hours reading.

Insider Take:

We are pleased to hear that Scribd is finally hitting its stride toward profitability and sharing some of its subscription and revenue numbers, so we can get a better sense of where the company stands. Since it is a privately-held company, it is not obligated to do so. It was hard to gauge how well the company was doing, especially with so many big content changes – some positive and some not so positive.

Up Next

Register Now For Email Subscription News Updates!

Search this site

You May Be Interested in: