SCMP’s 10-question checklist to starting an e-subscription service

SCMP outlines the key questions publishers need to ask themselves before jumping into a subscription-based business model.

It may have an illustrious legacy as Hong Kong’s newspaper of record for 117 years – but the South China Morning Post (SCMP) is hardly a traditionalist when it comes to change, taking just five months to launch its digital subscription news service this August.

“It happened extremely quickly for a number of reasons,” said Adrian Lee, its marketing and events SVP, at the Digital Media Asia conference.

As ad budgets shrink in the current COVID-19 climate, news organisations that are solely reliant on advertising revenue are now taking a massive hit.

“For the SCMP, revenue diversity is key to...

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