Dow Jones sees 8% increase in circulation and subscription revenue

Dow Jones & Co., the parent of The Wall Street Journal, Barron’s and MarketWatch.com, reported an 8 percent increase in circulation and subscription revenue in the first quarter.

Overall Dow Jones revenue rose s1 percent to $385 million.

During the quarter, total subscriptions to Dow Jones’ consumer products reached 3.88 million, an 18% increase compared to the prior year, of which digital-only subscriptions grew 29%. Subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 19% compared to the prior year, to 3.10 million average subscriptions in the quarter.

Digital-only subscriptions to The Wall Street Journal grew 27% to more than 2.35 million average subscriptions in the quarter, and represented 76% of its total subscriptions.

Advertising revenue decreased $14 million, or 17%, primarily due to a 39% decline in print advertising revenues, driven by general market weakness and lower volume across The Wall Street Journal and Barron’s due to COVID-19, partially offset by a 14% increase in digital advertising revenues.

Digital advertising accounted for 57% of total advertising revenues in the quarter, compared to 42% in the prior year.

The full earnings release can be found here.

Chris Roush

Chris Roush was the dean of the School of Communications at Quinnipiac University in Hamden, Connecticut. He was previously Walter E. Hussman Sr. Distinguished Professor in business journalism at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is a former business journalist for Bloomberg News, Businessweek, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Tampa Tribune and the Sarasota Herald-Tribune. He is the author of the leading business reporting textbook "Show me the Money: Writing Business and Economics Stories for Mass Communication" and "Thinking Things Over," a biography of former Wall Street Journal editor Vermont Royster.