News earnings show AI deals are paying off for publishers as media fragments

This just in… On the heels of the election, news companies published their earnings this week. As journalism holds on for dear life (77% of newspaper jobs have disappeared in the past two decades), news companies have tested a variety of alternate revenue streams to keep the lights on. The industry’s tried paywalls, video, podcasts, newsletters (hello), and, most recently, licensing deals with AI companies. How much these efforts are paying off is TBD, but earnings from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal owner News Corp., and Reuters provided some hints.

• Wordle’s world: The Times’ digital-subscriber count grew to 11M, though its 260K new subs were below expectations. Still, its ad sales jumped the most in two years, and subscribers to its non-news offerings like Wordle grew 25% from last year.

• Walled off: Thomson Reuters said its news revenue grew 10%, boosted by AI-licensing deals. Last month, the outlet added a $1/week paywall to draw steadier $$ from its 50M monthly readers.

• Journaling: WSJ parent News Corp. said its media ad revenue fell 5% and it saw a $4M drop in subscription $$.

The AI-media handshake… While outlets including The Times and the Chicago Trib have sued AI companies over copyright infringement, other media cos have cozied up to AI. Reuters last month struck a multiyear deal to allow Meta’s chatbot to use its articles to answer user questions. In May, News Corp. signed a licensing agreement with OpenAI said to be worth $250M. Other publishers including Axel Springer (Business Insider), IAC, The Atlantic, and the Associated Press have made similar moves.