Categories: OLD Media Moves

FT digital revenue surpasses print

Revenues from digital and services at the Financial Times surpassed those from print in 2016, the business newspaper said Monday.

The FT achieved a record-high circulation of almost 850,000 across digital and print, up 8 percent year-on-year.

Digital subscriptions grew 14 percent to 650,000, more than three-quarters of the total paying audience. During the Brexit referendum and the U.S. presidential election, the FT saw law subscription gains.

“Our first year in partnership with our new owners Nikkei saw the FT achieve record levels of paid-for readership and investment in new digital products and revenue streams,” said FT CEO John Ridding in a statement. “These will help ensure the sustained success of the FT’s business transformation and support for our unrivalled quality global journalism.

The new FT.com remains one of the fastest news sites in the world, loading in 1.5 seconds on desktop and 2.1 on mobile.

The new site has increased reader engagement by 30 percent, with visitors reading more and returning more frequently.

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.