The Times uses the COVID-19 ‘news surge’ to boost subscription revenues

Why Times Newspapers opted against dropping its paywall for coronavirus-related content during the pandemic.

Why it matters

Ad investment in news media continues to plummet. Rather than growing its audience with free access to content, Times Newspapers made a bet that it could use the coronavirus ‘news surge’ to attract paying subscribers with the lure of its analytical journalism.

Takeaways

  • The publisher was attracting the ‘wrong type’ of subscriber with discounted deals and free trials. By making users pay in full and up-front, it has significantly reduced churn rates.
  • The Times is developing a model to predict a user’s long-term tenure based on their first week of engagement, enabling its UX team to...

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