"Rather than undercutting prices to chase growth, many are leaning into higher-value positioning and introductory offers designed to convert (and keep) paying readers. Digiday's third annual Subscription Index found that publishers increased subscription prices by 5 percent year over year in 2025, based on a cohort of 14 publishers. (Bloomberg increased its annual subscription pricing by an eye-opening 33 percent year over year, up from $299 annually in 2024 to $399 in 2025)."
""Total digital-only ARPU [average revenue per user] grew year over year to $9.72 as we stepped up subscribers from promotional to higher prices and raised prices on certain tenured subscribers," New York Times CFO Will Bardeen said in a Feb. 4 earnings call. With traffic from search and social more volatile, subscriptions are being positioned as the stabilizing core of some news publishers' businesses."
After pandemic-era surges, year-over-year subscriber gains are harder to come by, prompting publishers to prioritize retention, upgrade offers and product expansion. Major outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, The Guardian and Daily Mail show varied trajectories: some accelerating growth, Bloomberg normalizing after a 2024 spike, and Daily Mail ramping a recent subscription rollout. Publishers are moving readers from promotional to higher-priced tiers and bundles while emphasizing higher-value positioning rather than price cuts. Subscription prices rose roughly 5 percent year over year in 2025 for a cohort of publishers, and ARPU increased as publishers raised prices for some subscribers.
Read at Digiday
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