No, subscriptions are not primarily about exploiting subscriber inertia!

How does a dubious claim turn into accepted industry wisdom? Through repetition. This episode explores citogenesis: how unsupported claims acquire the appearance of established facts simply because everyone keeps citing everyone else. And why we should question some familiar publishing industry wisdom – including the claim that retaining a subscriber is seven times cheaper than acquiring a new one. But that's a story for Part II.(inspired by this great piece: https://www.niemanlab.org/2026/10/i-went-looking-for-the-source-of-one-little-statistic-that-was-easier-said-than-done/)

Was giving away digital journalism for free really the original sin of publishers? From the Daily Mail’s successful Deep Dive articles to the AI industry’s free-to-paid business models, this episode challenges one of the media industry’s most persistent myths. It’s time to forgive the publishers of 30 years ago.

Discover how DPG Media turns conventional subscription price communication upside down.

Do subscription companies really make their money from customers who forget to cancel? It's a popular belief, but surprisingly little is known about how significant this effect actually is. An academic paper claims to have cracked the puzzle and calculated the economic value of subscriber inertia. The method is ingenious. The conclusions are not.Link to study: https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w31547/w31547.pdf

“Ask me” is becoming a standard feature of news products. That’s fine. But it isn’t, and must not be mistaken for, the product itself.

Just a short glimpse over my shoulder. This summer, I've come across quite a few subscription-based news products in different markets which share a common USP.

Only recently, I stumbled across the incorrect use of the term “hypothesis” for the umpteenth time. Since I think this particular error poses a risk to every test-and-learn approach in the reader revenue business, I try to clarify it. And to build a bridge to help you remember — the bridge between hypotheses and hippopotamuses.

What if the perfect AI-generated personal newspaper is a contradiction in itself? The better AI knows what you want, the harder it may become to show you what you didn’t know you needed. A few thoughts on personalisation, serendipity – and why human-curated journalism may matter more than ever.

Average delivery costs are misleading. A closer look at what newspaper delivery really costs, why it matters and what can be done about it.

A daily news routine, a synthetic voice, and the fragile balance between habit and brevity — why small changes can break big loyalties.