Quartz is betting high-end videos will drive subscriptions

Quartz

Quartz is betting that its high-end video series will become a leading driver of membership revenue, reports Max Willens of Digiday.

Willens reports, “This past week Quartz sent an email announcing the premiere of ‘Risk,’ a new video series exclusively available to people enrolled in the publisher’s membership program, who pay $15 per month or $99 per year.

“‘Risk’ represents a major investment in video that Quartz has made to help bolster its membership program. For 2020 Quartz’s nine-person video team will have six other member-exclusive series in production, said Jacob Templin, an executive producer at Quartz, adding that at least half of them will be finished and released before the year ends. Some will be new seasons of established shows, such as ‘Because China,’ which examines China’s impact on the global economy. Other series will be brand-new but focusing on topics that guide Quartz’s other coverage.

“Quartz is investing in creating videos because management sees them as an important driver of member acquisition and retention, said Quartz membership editor Walter Frick.”

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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.