UK: Subscription Fatigue Bites as Video and Audio Carry the Growth
The latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index (DPRI) from the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) and Deloitte highlights contrasting signals.
The latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index (DPRI) from the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) and Deloitte presents a complex picture, but it’s not all bad news.
Display advertising revenues, long in steep decline, have finally stabilised—down just 0.72% year-on-year (YoY) in Q4 2024. This marks a significant improvement for a segment that has often posted double-digit losses.
Subscriptions, on the other hand, are showing signs of fatigue. Growth slowed to 3.26% YoY, a modest increase but a clear deceleration from previous quarters. It comes amid wider concerns of consumer burnout as highlighted by a survey in International Business Times which found that 85% of consumers across the U.S., UK, France, and Germany, felt overwhelmed by the number of subscriptions they manage.
In the same IBT survey, nearly half (47%) admitted they’ve cancelled at least one digital subscription in the past year due to overload or value concerns. Ominously, password sharing is becoming prolific with research from Bain & Co showing that one in four streaming subscriptions are now shared.
With subscriptions and display representing the majority share of digital revenue, all eyes are on emerging formats to pick up the slack. Online video revenues rose 16.15% YoY, while digital audio surged by 43.1%, together generating £14.36 million. These formats are the new standard-bearers for an industry rapidly diversifying, with online video a huge draw for Gen Z.
Meanwhile, sponsorship revenue dropped 5.76%, and smaller segments like recruitment and off-platform saw steep declines of -28.13% and -12.35%, respectively.
In a striking shift in sentiment, 60% of publishers reported revenue growth in Q4, up from just 30% the previous quarter—a possible inflection point after more than a year of quarter-on-quarter declines in the share of publishers that reported growth, and the first time since Q3 2023 that more publishers have reported growth than not.
"If this is indeed the start of a period of stabilisation, then the next step is growing the total revenue pot, which has been flat for far too long," said Richard Reeves, Managing Director at AOP.
Andy Cowen, lead partner for telecoms, media and entertainment at Deloitte, added: "The stabilisation of display advertising, coupled with the significant growth in video and audio, suggests that publishers are adapting to the evolving digital landscape."