Digital paid models in the news media division display strong growth / In a video, journalists talk about their most extraordinary research / New podcast "Journalist Club" is launched on June 17, 2021
Axel Springer’s journalistic offerings together exceeded the one million digital subscriptions mark for the first time in May 2021. The digital contents of BILD, Insider, WELT, POLITICO Europe, Gründerszene, as well as the brands of Ringier Axel Springer Media AG, including Forbes.pl, Aktuality.sk, and the Serbian Blic boast a total of 1,006,800 subscriptions* between them. The IVW-audited German brands BILD and WELT reached 540,177 and 157,230 digital subscribers respectively in May 2021.
This milestone comes a good decade after Axel Springer took its first steps into paid content in 2009 with paid subscription models for the iPhone apps of BILD and WELT as part of its Premium Initiative. In 2012, WELT became one of the first German media brands to launch a digital subscription, WELTplus. BILDplus followed about half a year later and now ranks among the top 10 media brands internationally with the most digital subscribers – alongside Guardian and Financial Times as the only European media brands (source: FIPP / CeleraOne: Global Digital Subscription Snapshot / Q1 2021).
Axel Springer’s paid content offerings once again achieved or exceeded their ambitious growth targets last year, growing by double-digit percentages. Insider and the brands of Ringier Axel Springer Media AG achieved triple-digit growth. Today, more than 50 percent of Axel Springer’s revenues in the News Media segment come from the digital business, establishing another important revenue pillar alongside marketing thanks to the strong focus on paid content.
The company is also now reaping the benefits from its strategic international expansion of the past years. Its Insider and POLITICO Europe brands – both of which are digital-native – have been pioneers in diversifying revenue beyond advertising, part of which was the successful development of their thriving subscription businesses. In fact, both companies now generate more than half of their revenues from sources other than ads. At POLITICO Europe, as much as 60 percent of revenue came from its innovative subscriber platform in 2020.
Jan Bayer, President News Media commented: “A large proportion of our journalistic offerings are now consumed digitally. And people are more willing than ever to pay for well-researched and exclusive stories on the Internet. This validates the strategy we have been pursuing from early on – and it’s the best recognition of our journalistic work I can imagine. We will continue to invest money and time to expand our existing paid content offering, to provide our users with the best and most exciting stories, and to be able to continue operating independent journalism profitably in the future. We will also be launching paid offerings with further brands this year.”
Common to all of Axel Springer’s news media brands is that they conduct extensive research and invest a great deal of effort to offer readers, users, and viewers the most important information and to present it in the best possible way. In a video to mark the milestone of one million digital subscribers, journalists from the various brands provide insights into their most unusual and interesting research — from the faked death of a Corona denier to the EU’s vaccine procurement strategy and Ukrainian surrogate mothers in Poland. A long version of the video (about 5 minutes) is available here.
Stories like this will also be taking center stage in the new podcast series “Journalist Club”, which launches on June 17, 2021. The podcast will act as a vehicle for journalists to share their most exciting stories and the research behind them.
*About the Calculation:
The total number of digital subscriptions was calculated based on the monthly average in May, i.e., the sum of all daily subscription values divided by the 31 days of May. Both B2C and B2B digital subscriptions of all journalistic brands in which Axel Springer holds a stake of at least 50 percent were included in the calculation. The individual number of subscribers is only disclosed for the IVW-audited media BILD and WELT.
BILD
BILDplus is by far the largest paid content offering in Germany and is one of the ten most successful digital news subscriptions worldwide. In 2020, BILDplus grew at a double-digit rate and today has 540,177 subscribers. BILD attracts paying users above all with exclusive reports, self-produced video documentaries. Another popular feature over the last year and a half has been its comprehensive Corona reporting, which all departments participate in. More than 500 reporters work every day to ensure the success of BILDplus.
INSIDER
Insider introduced paid content just two years after it was acquired by Axel Springer in 2015. Last year, Insider more than doubled its number of paying subscribers. Insider Inc., which includes the B2B offering Insider Intelligence, has more than a quarter of a million paying subscribers.
The focus of Insider’s paid strategy is business and tech reporting. Other verticals like politics are also being introduced. In a bid to further improve its journalistic offering, Axel Springer is continuously investing in Insider. Last year, the company hired 200 new employees – despite the economic crisis. This year, the editorial team, which currently employs around 500 people worldwide, is set to grow by a fifth.
WELT
With 157,230 users in May 2021, WELT’s digital pay offer grew by around 30 percent compared to the previous year. WELT was one of the first media brands in Germany to introduce a paid content model in 2012. WELT’s strategy centers on excellent journalistic content that closely interlinks digital, print, TV, and audio. In addition, WELT relies on technology that uses data-driven and personalized offer management to help further optimize the user experience and improve customer loyalty.
POLITICO Europe
POLITICO Europe has established itself as an absolute must-read in EU circles. Launched in 2015, the real-time information service POLITICO Pro is aimed at individuals and teams who create, influence or are impacted by political and legislative debates at European and national level. POLITICO Pro continues to grow, increasing revenue by 30 percent last year. More than 1,000 government institutions and agencies, companies, associations, consultancies, law firms and non-governmental organizations subscribe to the news service, which provides policy experts with information as well as exclusive background and analysis on twelve policy areas ranging from technology to health. POLITICO Pro accounted for 60 percent of POLITICO Europe’s revenue in 2020.
Ringier Axel Springer Media AG
Ringier Axel Springer Media AG, the joint venture of Axel Springer and Ringier in Central and Eastern Europe, first introduced paid content at the Polish media Newsweek and Forbes in 2019. Five other Polish media brands followed last year – Fakt, Komputer Swiat, Auto Swiat, Przegląd Sportowny and Media Klub – as well as Aktuality.sk in Slovakia and Blic in Serbia. All brands tripled the number of their subscribers last year.
Gründerszene
In Germany, Gründerszene celebrated the first anniversary of its paid content offering Gründerszene Plus in April 2021. Gründerszene is the most important medium for the German startup scene and a vertical of BUSINESS INSIDER. GS+ includes exclusive news, as well as analysis, reports, interviews and formats such as pitch decks by successful startups. BUSINESS INSIDER Germany has also announced that it will launch a pay model this year.
