Battle for Digital Subscriptions: WSJ vs. NYT

wsj nyt

As the world becomes more technologically savvy and consumers have increased access to the Internet, the way we consume media has shifted dramatically from print to digital. Through online subscriptions and mobile apps, newspapers have adopted new ways to reach their audiences. And it appears that The Wall Street Journal’s online subscriptions are growing faster than its competitor New York Times.

According to figures released on Tuesday, The Wall Street Journal’s digital subscriptions increased 62.6% to 898,102 at the end of March, making it the most-subscribed-to newspaper in the United States.

The New York Times, on the other hand, reported digital subscriptions of 1,113,923. That is still a bigger base than The Wall Street Journal, but it’s growing at a slower pace, up only 41% from last year. Despite experiencing the slowest quarter-over-quarter growth at the beginning of this year, analysts are predicting that business should pick up soon.

New York Times CEO Mark Thompson said the company is looking to launch “a lower-priced product designed to allow access to the paper’s most important and interesting stories in a convenient, media-rich package as well as other lower-priced products in specific areas, such as politics, technology, opinion, arts, and food.”

In addition to these lower-priced packages, Thompson also said they are looking to offer more expensive, “enhanced editions” that offer more than current digital packages, such as a family subscriptions.

Be on the lookout to see how The Wall Street Journal and New York Times continue to battle it out for the number one spot in digital subscriptions.