Study links entertainment, news subscriptions

A study conducted by researchers at University of Minnesota’s Hubbard journalism school in cooperation with the News Media Alliance and the Star Tribune uncovered new drivers of digital news media subscriptions that provide news publishers keys to growing subscription revenue, the organizations say. 

The study, which surveyed consumers in Minnesota, found that those who have entertainment subscriptions (Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, etc.) are more likely to buy a digital subscription to a newspaper, and there is a positive correlation between spending more on entertainment subscriptions and spending more on news media subscriptions. 

The objective of the study was to understand consumers’ willingness to pay and motivations for subscribing to news, entertainment media and sports content. Specifically, the researchers wanted to know how newspaper subscription costs fit in to consumers’ overall subscription budget. The survey was conducted with Minnesota residents between April 24 and June 4, 2019, and received just under 500 responses. The responses were weighted to reflect the U.S. Census data for the state of Minnesota. 

The study revealed that the average Minnesota household has approximately four digital media subscriptions, including 1.3 news subscriptions. Subscribers report setting a budget of about $600 per year for media subscriptions, but they actually spend closer to $700 per year ($58 per month). 

In terms of perceived value of different types of subscriptions, consumers are willing to pay more for sports content and streaming music subscriptions.

When it comes to motivators, timeliness — getting the very latest updates — is the top motivator for subscribing to news.

The News Media Alliance hopes to repeat the study in other markets to understand regional and national differences in spending, willingness to pay and motivations to subscribe.

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