U.K. media
companies from the Financial Times to The Guardian have reported growth in the last year, amid the boom of the Brexit-related news cycle and a continuing focus on digital
subscription strategies.
The Financial Times reported yesterday that its media group made £8.15 million in profit last year, up 68%
from £4.65 million in 2017.
Digital subscriptions grew by 11% year-over-year to 796,000. The FT's digital paid readership now represents more than three-quarters of its total
circulation.
Revenues increased by more than £2 million to £323.6 million.
Last month, The Times and Sunday Times parent company News UK announced it
had more than 300,000 paid digital-only subscribers combined.
The company is calling 2019 its “most successful year” since launching a digital subscription model
in 2010.
In August, Guardian Media Group also had some news. It
announced that it broke even in the 2018-2019 financial year, due to digital revenue growth and contributions from readers.
This trend of the growth of U.K. news media companies was
first noted by Axios.
Media subscriptions also jumped in the U.S. in 2017, following the fervent news cycle around President Trump's campaign and
election, often referred to as the “Trump bump.”
A Reuters report found that between 2016 and 2017, the share of Americans ages 18-24 who paid for online news grew from 4% to 18%,
and the 25-34 group rose from 8% to 20%.