from Statista.com
— this post authored by Felix Richter
When The New York Times announced its digital subscription model in March 2011, it was considered a bold move by many industry experts.
The question was: would people really be willing to spend money on digital content that they were used to getting for free?
As it turned out, the answer is yes. Six and a half years after the introduction of its metered paywall, The Times has more than 2 million digital subscribers accounting for a third of the company’s subscription revenues in the second quarter of 2017. The company’s CEO Mark Thompson said during an earnings call last week:
“We believe that the demand for quality, in-depth journalism is growing, not only in the U.S. but across the globe. More and more people are prepared to pay for access to this kind of journalism.”
Interestingly, the Times saw a significant uptick in digital subscriptions since Donald Trump was elected president in November 2016. Despite Trump’s repeated, harsh criticism of the country’s leading newspaper, it added more than 400,000 digital subscribers in the first six months of 2017 alone. In the past quarter, digital-only subscriptions jumped 66 percent year-over-year, marking the largest increase since 2012.
You will find more statistics at Statista.