Guardian Media Group digital revenues outstrip print for first time

Posted

For the first time in the Guardian’s history, the publication is making more money from its digital operations than from its print newspapers. Part of the reason the digital side is making more money is because readers have been making online contributions.

The website also attracted more readers than the previous year. How did the Guardian do it? The outlet took a different approach to maintaining readership: The focus was on keeping the readers the website already had, rather than trying to appeal to new readers by going viral on social media. “The danger of just chasing reach is you lose sense of the fact that these are just individuals,” said Guardian Media Group Chief Executive David Pemsel.

The method worked. The company generated more income than the last year, growing by 15 percent from reader contributions and online advertising. The print side fared worse, decreasing in earnings by 10 percent.

While the paper is not impermeable to the tough times of the newspaper industry and has had to make staff cuts, it has managed to keep staff levels at an amount that still allow the publication to succeed.

Full Story