Despite relaxing paywalls, publishers like Bloomberg, WSJ and The Atlantic see subscription spikes

Subscriptions or advertising. The pivot to paid is overall a healthy trend for many publishers, but subscriptions aren’t a savior. Ads still have a role, sometimes as the main plank of media business models. The success of Axios, Morning Brew and Dotdash prove that. And ads can work with subscriptions -- look at the success Bloomberg is having in t... See more

Several individual publishers have experimented with removing ads as part of a larger subscription package. Talking Points Memo, for instance, offers an ad-free “Prime” membership for $100 a year. Some publishers like Slate promise “fewer ads” for paying subscribers. But for every publisher that offers an ad-free experience for subscribers, there a... See more

Smaller papers have been especially hard hit, but the crisis is hurting big outlets as well. The New York Times and News Corp., the publisher of the Wall Street Journal, have both lost advertisers -- even if readers are more engaged. And the Los Angeles Times, serving the second-largest media market, is furloughing employees on the paper’s business... See more