In this week’s edition of Five on Friday, we review the FTC’s new advertising disclosure guidance for online influencers; Ken Doctor announces the 2020 launch of his new venture, Lookout Local; now live, Disney+ shares details about its bundled offer with Hulu and ESPN+; the ‘Hunt A Killer” mystery game is raking in $2 million a month in subscription revenue; and NewsGuild-CWA says the Gatehouse-Gannett merger will hurt journalism.
This week was nothing short of amazing, as we wrap up our very first Subscription Show. Thanks to our sponsors, keynotes, speakers, vendors and attendees for making this conference both useful and fun, chock full of great ideas and techniques to grow our subscription businesses. Here’s what else is happening in the subscription world: Amazon will earn close to $10B in net digital ad revenue this year, Dropbox is making its file transfer service available to all users, Netflix says it is compatible with certain Roku and Samsung devices, Apple plants seeds for subscription growth, and Hubspot shares social media marketing tips.
CNN to Create Digital News Subscription Service
CNN is stepping into the subscription game by adding another app to their portfolio. The AT&T-backed company currently has CNNgo, which allows you to log in through your cable provider to access the 24-hour cable news network on the go. Their stories are also available on voice-controlled devices, Samsung and Apple devices. Their newest venture? Adding a subscription news platform to allow users access to CNN stories at their…
Taking a break from the MLS conference semi-finals, the World Series or the kick-off of the NBA season? We’ve got some interesting subscription features for you. McClatchy lays off 30 employees as it continues its digital transformation, Meredith Corp sells the MONEY brand to Ad Practitioners LLC, and American Press Institute shares examples of how publishers have successfully retained subscribers through engagement. Also this week, Netflix is raising $2 billion in debt to pay for content, and the Financial Times adds consultancy to its list of services to help other publishers learn from their paywall success.
Last week, in an email to staff, McClatchy president and CEO Craig Forman outlined big changes coming to the organization as it continues its digital transformation, reports Poynter. The changes include leadership shifts and changes to functional areas (News, Finance, Customer and Product, and Operations). They also include layoffs of about 30 employees, or 1% of staff. None of the layoffs will come from reporting positions. …
We are busy preparing for our big Subscription Show next month, but that didn’t stop us from preparing a feature-filled Five on Friday for you. This week, Delta Airlines gets into the subscription business, Scribe launches a subscription greeting card service with the help of artists, EU regulators have concerns about Apple Pay’s possible anticompetitive behavior, Hulu adds like and dislike buttons to personalize suggestions and, everyone’s favorite feature, LinkedIn shares top subscription jobs.
If you are tired of impeachment news, check out our Five on Friday features instead: a new study shows that nearly half of U.S. broadband homes subscribe to more than one streaming service; in seven-and-a-half years, the subscription economy has grown by 350%; Stitch Fix goes beyond just subscriptions; the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is the latest newspaper to pare down its print operation; and Facebook agrees to a $40 million settlement for misleading advertisers on the potential success of video ads.
Subscription companies facing increased competition are trying different tactics to attract and retain subscribers. For example, this week Sony is slashing PlayStation Now subscription prices as new gaming services come online. Also, Netflix is allowing nonsubscribers free access to the pilot episode of Bard of Blood, a Netflix original. In other subscription news, a new report shows that more than half of online shoppers subscribe to a subscription box, Apple News+ is expanding beyond the U.S. and Canada, and eMarketer reveals how some publishers are replacing revenue lost from ad blocking.
It is hard to be it is already fall. Where did the year go?!! Despite the changing of the seasons, the subscription economy is growing strong. In this week’s Five on Friday, we talk about sneaker subscriptions (hint – it’s not about the shoes)! Also, Apple and Google take their gaming subscription services live, two ad blockers for Chrome are caught in an ad fraud scheme, the Washington Post launches an ad network, and Marketing Profs shares some tips on how to get the attention of millennials and Gen Z.
Every week, the subscription world has some interesting tidbits, news or acquisitions to share. This week is exceptional though with an array of jaw-dropping lawsuits, takeover bids and fake accounts. In this week’s Five on Friday, we’ll cover an unexpected takeover bid for MoviePass, a lawsuit alleging AT&T created fake accounts to beef up DirecTV subscription numbers, NBCUniversal’s streaming plans, the New York Stock Exchange putting McClatchy on notice (again), and a lawsuit against Peloton, alleging they violated copyright to the tune of $300 million.
In this week’s edition of Five on Friday, The Washington Post announces that it is terminating the publication of Express, its commuter newspaper, after 16 years. Also, Disney is launching a subscription box for adult fans – the Disney Backstage Collection, Amazon plans a Career Day, Google removes 24 malware-ridden apps from the Google Play store and binge watchers get hit with higher internet fees.
LinkedIn: Top Subscription Jobs
Director, Subscription Lifecycle MarketingInsider Inc.New York, NY
Insider Inc. is hiring a Director of Subscription Lifecycle Marketing to lead our marketing initiatives to generate and retain subscribers. As Director, Subscription Lifecycle Marketing, you will lead a digital marketing team and be the driving force behind marketing campaigns that will grow the audience of our premium subscription products; Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider Prime, and free editorial newsletters. You will manage the campaign cycle…
The summer is winding down with the long Labor Day weekend, but you know we’re not! We are here as always with great Five on Friday fodder to fuel your weekend reading. In this week’s edition, we’ll tell you about Amazon’s foray into the publishing world, PressReader’s acquisition of News360 and what that means for news consumers, big losses of U.S. pay TV subscribers, some publishers’ paywall success secrets, and five social media dashboards to try.
Summer might be winding down, but the subscription economy keeps getting hotter. This week, we bring you features about streaming, gaming and data gathering: the new Disney+ bundle launching this fall, the latest department stores to jump into the subscription rental business, layoffs at GameStop and “Game Informer,” Facebook’s plans to change their data gathering and sharing ways, and 2019 customer service statistics.
Happy Friday! The only thing better than a Friday in the summertime is a Saturday or Sunday. Wrap up your week with this week’s Five on Friday. Today we are featuring IAB’s report on digital ad revenue for the first quarter of 2019 (hint: it is 18% higher than Q1 2018), the rolling out of the Apple Card, Facebook’s test of premium video subscriptions, Glow’s hope to make money for podcasters, and some of the top social media statistics.
This week, the big subscription news is DoorDash’s acquisition of competitor Caviar and the mega merger between GateHouse Media and Gannett valued at $1.4 billion. In addition, we look at the value of gaming subscriptions, report the latest news on Mixcloud changes, share lessons learned by Facebook through their local journalism project, offer Forbes’ input on why paywalls aren’t always the answer for newspapers, and look at how unsubscribing is changing.
