It's undeniable that the publishing industry has been trending towards a digital landscape for several years. As Director of European Operations Philippe van Mastrigt writes in his annual Publishing Trends report, print circulation has consistently declined year after year for most publications. But even amidst an industry-wide decline that shows no signs of stopping, print circulation still remains a significant revenue source for many publishers, and some publishers have been able to slow the decline of (or even grow!) their circulation numbers.
Let’s take a closer look at some of these publishers! In this article, we’ll examine three publications of different sizes, locations, and niches – The New York Times, Deseret News, and The Surfer’s Journal (plus a few other nature and travel magazines) – to gain some insight into what these publishers are doing to keep their print segment afloat.
Case 1: The New York Times
Let’s start with a closer look at The New York Times, which is by far the largest news publication in North America. While it’s well known within the publishing industry that NYTimes has significantly increased their digital subscriptions in recent years, it cannot be understated that print revenue represents a huge chunk of their yearly revenue – nearly half a billion dollars in 2023!
While NYTimes hasn’t grown their print circulation numbers, they’ve managed to slow the decline of their print revenue through these methods: (Source: WAN-IFRA)
- Owning the Supply Chain
One of the biggest drawbacks of print versus digital is the cost of distribution: the material and labor costs of printing are far greater than what it costs to distribute content online. The New York Times opened their own commercial printing business in 2017, investing in cutting edge printing technology to save money during the printing process.
- Novel Ad Placements
One way that NYTimes slows print revenue decline is via “wrap-around” ads, which attract big advertisers (and thus, big money!)
- Optimizing Distribution
NYTimes still distributes 7 daily issues per week, and to maintain this frequency, they’ve collaborated with third parties to optimize their operations and truck runs.
Takeaway: As the largest news publication in North America, The New York Times has the capital and audience to perform cost-saving measures and attract advertisers – options that aren’t viable for smaller publishers. By printing their own papers, making small optimizations to distribution processes, attracting major advertisers, and scaling these actions to a national level, NYTimes has significantly slowed the decline of their print revenue.
Case 2: The Digest by Deseret News
Now that we’ve covered a huge national publication, let’s consider a regional one. Deseret News is a regional newspaper in Utah that is owned by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. While Deseret has taken measures to adapt to a digital landscape – cutting their daily paper to a weekly while emphasizing their website and app – their free print publication The Digest quickly became popular and profitable after its introduction in September 2023! As a free compilation of high-quality journalism from Deseret’s other platforms, this publication is distributed to ~120,000 homes around Salt Lake City monthly. The Digest’s surprising success can be attributed to factors such as: (Source: Poynter)
- Optimized Distribution Targets and Frequency
Every month, Deseret targets certain ZIP codes in counties around Salt Lake City for the purpose of distributing The Digest to locations that best suit that issue’s advertisers. According to publisher Burke Olsen, they try to target “established zip codes… people who tend to have higher incomes – more disposable income – and that’s because that’s attractive to our advertising base.” Print publications are regarded as a premium product, so it makes sense for Deseret to target demographics who have the means to subscribe.
It’s also important to highlight that distribution is one of the biggest costs for print publishers. Keeping frequency relatively low keeps distribution costs down while preventing product oversaturation in its targeted markets.
- The Freemium Model
Freemium is a business model where a product or service’s basic features are offered to consumers for free, while premium features are charged for. This is essentially what The Digest is for Deseret News: recipients receive a compilation of what’s typically published in Deseret’s paid publications, and if recipients desire similar content on a regular basis, they can convert to become paying customers.
Takeaway: Deseret’s laser-sharp focus on targeted distribution and willingness to use the Freemium model (which is typically more viable for digital subscriptions than print) allows this publication to be popular and profitable. By presenting the publication to affluent readers as a premium compilation of Deseret’s best journalism, they can then convert free readers who desire more content into loyal paid subscribers.
Case 3: The Surfer's Journal (and other small nature and travel magazines)
The final publications we’ll look at today are several relatively tiny nature and travel publications. While their audiences are diminutive compared to The New York Times or even Deseret News, niche publications like The Surfer’s Journal, Emocean and Ori are finding loyal audiences by: (Source: The New York Times)
- Focusing on Quality Over Quantity
Niche surfing magazine The Surfer’s Journal has only ~28,000 subscribers and 8 sponsors to finance the entire publication. They charge $84 for six issues per year – a hefty price that most print publishers wouldn’t consider charging. However, their focus on quality over quantity keeps these subscribers and sponsors sticking around. Whether its physical aspects of the publication like embossed titles and heavier paper or visual aspects like large, high quality images, the exceedingly high quality of each issue is what makes The Surfer’s Journal so attractive to their loyal subscriber base.
- Catering to Underrepresented Niches
Many of these smaller publications are finding success by catering to small, specific audiences instead of aiming for mass appeal. Take Emocean for example, a surf publication that caters towards women and minorities within a hobby that is typically dominated by white men. Or Ori, which collects articles from local writers, photographers, and artists from all over the world, positioning themselves as a premium travel publication for a niche audience that craves international perspectives in long form format (members of the #slowreadmovment, according to Ori).
Takeaway: Small publications can succeed if they focus on delivering quality over quantity. Compared to industry behemoths like The New York Times, who have diversified their product offerings to cater to the largest possible audience (emphasizing digital news and non-textual media like podcasts, videos, etc.), smaller publications just don’t have the resources or mainstream appeal to perform similar measures. Instead, they’ve identified what makes their product attractive – the presentation of niche topics in a high quality physical format – and readers have responded with enthusiasm and loyalty.
Final Thoughts
A closer look at these publications shows that ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all solution to the industry-wide phenomenon of declining print revenue. While big publishers like The New York Times might save the most money by reducing production and distribution costs on a national level, smaller publishers like Deseret News or The Surfer’s Journal can’t scale their cost saving measures to the same effect. This means that for smaller publishers, an easier path to slowing declining revenue might be to focus on quality – content and material-wise – and to cater to affluent audiences willing to pay for a premium print product.
If you’re looking to pair your publication with a flexible, industry leading subscription management platform for digital and physical products, Advantage might be the right choice for you! Contact us today to schedule a free demo or consultation.