How a US nonprofit news organisation built a $1m membership program Plus the “uphill climb” of the subscription business

June 22, 2022

The major theme in English-language media over the past five years have been the shift to reader revenue. Most, but not all, major media have built their success on building a direct relationship with their audiences that involves some form of membership or subscription. It was great to read how Bridge Michigan did this - helmed by CEO John Bebow, who I worked for briefly in the late 1990s. What this story showed me was the importance of the vision of senior leadership to support the long-term effort required to build a business like this. Also, you can't get readers to become paying members without asking them.

With respect to a long-term vision, you can see something similar with The Economist, which has spent more than a decade building its subscription business. (Disclosure, the company that I work for Pugpig, built and maintains their app.) They now have 1.2m subscribers and have just recorded record revenue. There are so many times when I had consulting clients point to The Economist’s success and want to replicate that. I think one of the things that makes it successful is its unique positioning and unwavering commitment to that brand promise.

However, with such large, established brands operating very successful membership and subscription campaigns, it does leave less space for others in the subscription business, Jacob Donnelly, the general manager of B2B at Morning Brew.

Plus ICYMI, the Local Media Association looks at lessons from 9 local news collaboratives. The Washington Post offers a subscription deal locking in the price for 50-years. And a slew of stories about Meta, Google and TikTok facing regulatory pressures.

It's been three years since Bridge Michigan launched its membership program with help from the Hub — they now have more than 9,000 members.

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