How the WSJ is Leading the Way in the Digital Subscription World

By S. Marc

How the WSJ is Leading the Way in the Digital Subscription World  

The Wall Street Journal is currently seeing an upsurge in digital subscribers, with the paper becoming a leader in how traditional print-based publication companies have adopted the Internet. Recent numbers released by the Alliance for Audited Media showed that the WSJ has seen growth of digital subscriptions by more than 60% meaning the paper is the number one highly subscribed publication in the United States. Circulation figures are currently at 2.3 million when you combine both print and digital subscribers.

Comparing the WSJ to the New York Times
When you compare these numbers to those of the New York Times, it makes for sobering reading for the main rival to the WSJ. The NYT is showing a circulation of 1.8 million – far below that of the Wall Street Journal. It not down to cost though, as a digital only subscription to the NYT is actually cheaper than the WSJ by eight dollars. If you want daily digital access to the WSJ then you can subscribe online – view the prices on this website here. It has the best WSJ Subscription Deals including some dollar a week deals.
Market Leading Content and Archives

So what is it about the Wall Street Journal that makes it such a market leader when it comes to digital reader subscriptions? Well, being as long-established as they are of course has put them in a preferential position, and the WSJ started to digitise its content as long ago as 20 years back, meaning most of the last century’s content is already available to browse and search though online.
In addition to that the WSJ has a large website with a multitude of user tools, including diaries, stock market planners, and user forums all which give it that extra bit of added value above and beyond the competition.

Conclusion on Digital Subscriptions
The Wall Street Journal looks set to continue the upward trend of increased digital subscriptions into the next year. If rival papers such as the New York Times are going to truly compete then they will need to look more at their content strategy rather than simply lowering prices – as price point appears to not be a valued metric in this industry.