Digital publishers saw year-on-year revenues increase to £89.7m in Q1 2018, up 3.8% compared to Q1 2017, according to the Association for Online Publishing (AOP) and Deloitte’s Digital Publishers Revenue Index (DPRI) report.
The findings show that on a 12 month rolling basis to March 2018, combined revenue increased by 5.4% to £371m, and almost 60% of publishers saw positive revenue growth in Q1 2018 compared to 48% in Q1 2017.
This increase can be explained by publishers’ growing tendency to look at alternative revenue streams, such as offering content on a subscription only basis which has enabled subscription revenues to increase by 42% compared with Q1 2017.
All members surveyed also commented that non-advertising revenue growth was ‘high-priority’ for their businesses compared to only 75% of those surveyed 12 months ago.
The revenue boost also instilled confidence and optimism in AOP board members, which was up by 43% in Q1 2018 compared to Q4 2017.
“There has been a growing trend in exploring alternative methods to generate income, with the adoption of subscriptions increasing over time,” said Richard Reeves, managing director, AOP.
“It’s interesting to see such significant growth in this area during the first quarter of the year, as it signals consumers are increasingly willing to pay for quality, online content.
“While it is encouraging to see such a positive outlook during the first quarter of 2018, the challenge will be maintaining this optimism going forwards with the implementation of GDPR and ePrivacy regulation.”
Dan Ison, lead partner for media and entertainment at Deloitte added: “AOP Board Members are now considerably more confident about the outlook of their own business, compared to that of the industry as a whole.
“Previously, publishers were uncertain whether non-traditional methods were the right route to take in improving revenues, but the evidence shows that those who were successful in innovating their business models are now reaping the rewards.”
