Author: Sara Guaglione
By Ivy Liu
The Financial Times has launched another subscription-based mobile app product a year after the debut of FT Edit, aiming to reach readers outside of its U.K. home base and provide a lower-priced option to convert them into paying subscribers.
Introducing the FT Digital Edition
Called the FT Digital Edition, this standalone subscription initially launched in 2020 on desktop as a digital version of the FT’s print newspaper and weekly magazine. It now boasts 12,000 subscribers in the U.S., according to Nicola Halstead, the FT’s director of print subscriptions and digital editions. The mobile app version went live last week, although Halstead declined to share how much the product overall has grown in the past year.
Subscriber Demographics
About 55% of Digital Edition subscribers and 40% of FT Edit monthly users are currently based in the U.S., according to Halstead. The FT maintains 1.3 million print and digital subscriptions, the same number as earlier this year, with roughly 1.2 million being digital subscribers. Halstead noted that about 20% of the FT’s subscribers are based in the U.S. — a figure consistent with what the FT reported to Digiday in March, when it had 1.3 million global paid subscribers.
A Response to Physical Accessibility Challenges
The FT Digital Edition app serves readers who are difficult to reach with the physical newspaper, Halstead mentioned. The FT has three print sites in the U.S. compared to The New York Times’ two dozen or so sites.
Pricing Strategy
The app exemplifies the publisher’s effort to provide a lower-priced subscription product offering on mobile. In the U.S., a subscription to FT Digital Edition costs $9.99 a month, and FT Edit costs $4.99 a month, while the FT’s regular digital subscription is priced at $40 (or $69 a month for the premium tier). Similarly, The Economist relaunched its Espresso news app last year for $7.99 a month.
Market Insights
“A lower-priced tier makes sense if [a publisher has] a large enough audience not willing to pay for the higher-priced tier. You also need a clear distinction in features and value between the lower and premium tiers,” stated Arvid Tchivzhel, managing director of the digital consulting practice at Mather Economics, in an interview with Digiday.
However, there is a risk of cannibalization; customers might downgrade if the tiers are too similar. E-editions of newspapers are typically used as a retention tool and a method to transition print readers to develop digital habits, Tchivzhel noted.
Future Marketing Plans
Halstead mentioned that the FT has exceeded its subscription targets this year, although she did not specify what those targets were.
The Financial Times plans to promote its new app in the fourth quarter through influencer and digital campaigns, but details regarding costs and specific advertising channels remain undisclosed. The subscription will be available for purchase at the same price in both Android and iOS app stores by early November, marking it as the first FT app to offer that option. Previously, readers had to visit the FT’s website to pay for the subscription and download the app.