With Falling Newsstand Sales, UK Newspapers Push Subscriptions

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By Lauren Indvik2013-07-28 20:00:41 UTC

A volatile advertising market isn't the only reason British newspapers are pushing print and digital subscriptions — it's also to combat a sharp decline in the number of copies being sold at the newsstand.

An article published in The Economist this week shows how British newspapers are slowly becoming "more American" — not in the scope or style of their coverage, but in their business models.

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Historically, British newspapers have sold most of their copies on the newsstand: Even now, 42% of UK citizens get their newspaper from a newsstand or shop, while just 12% have a print or digital subscription, according to a Reuters Institute survey. In the U.S., those numbers are reversed: 30% of news readers have either a print- or digital-newspaper subscription, while 12% get them from a newsstand. (The rest, presumably, get their news for free, entirely online.)

As The Economist points out, it's easier for people to stop buying newspapers at the newsstand every day than to cancel a subscription, which is largely why papers like the Financial Times and The Times have tightened up their online paywalls, and funded big marketing campaigns to promote their subscriptions (even throwing free tablets into the mix).

British newspapers are making good on their efforts. Collectively, the Daily Telegraph, FT, The Guardian, The Independent and The Times have boosted the proportion of their circulation revenue from 26% to 41% between Dec. 2008 and May 2013, according to Enders Analysis.

Image: Getty Images and Reuters Institute

Topics: Advertising, Business, Media, World