The Economist is aiming to “future-proof” its business

The Economist has “returned to brand advertising” and rolled out free subscriptions for students as part of a bid to “future-proof” the business, reports Bron Maher of Press Gazette.

Maher reports, “The free subscriptions offer began to roll out at the end of July, providing high school and university students aged 16 and older free access to its cut-price Espresso app.

“Espresso gives its readers five articles and a podcast a day as well as four long reads a week, and normally costs £7.90 a month or £79 for the year.

“McCave told the Twipe Digital Growth Summit in Brussels last week that young readers are ‘really important for future-proofing our business’ at The Economist, which drew around 60% of its revenue from its 1.2 million subscribers (of whom 697,000 were digital-only) in 2023. Espresso currently has just over 20,000 subscribers.”

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