What we’re seeing

Last week, subscription trends were analyzed for traditional national newspaper brands. This week, Alkami Research explored consumer adoption of emerging news media brands Patreon, Substack, The Athletic, and Medium. Emerging platforms provide a decentralized approach to distributing news and content by providing a channel upon which creators can develop their own individual subscribers.

Skeptical that emerging brands can displace old media powerhouses? In the research panel transaction data from 2022, the leading emerging platform, Patreon, had 3.6 times more unique paying users than The New York Times, showing that consumers are open to new ways of consuming content. Patreon grew further in 2023 and continued to be the leader. 

Medium and Substack, each less than 5 percent of the subscribers that The New York Times had in 2022, showed significant 20 percent and 27 percent growth respectively in 2023. The Athletic, a sports focused news site, declined, but it was acquired by The New York Times for F$550 million in April 2022, so may be due to bundling. 

All data is indexed to the number of New York Times subscribers in 2022 as 100.

Takeaway and Call to Action

Same as the analysis of traditional newspaper brands last week,   financial institutions should ensure that payments are made using their debit card to stay top of wallet. Transaction analysis can help identify emerging media subscriptions where account holders are engaging so banks and credit unions can strategically align its marketing message.