Profits at the Independent have overtaken those at Telegraph. This is a huge milestone for the first national UK newspaper publisher to close its printing presses and rely solely on digital revenue, reports the Financial Times.
The Independent ceased its print edition four years ago at the behest of its Russian part-owner Evgeny Lebedev, in an experiment closely watched by fellow publishers. Since then, the publisher has been profitable for three successive years because of digital advertising revenues and an increasingly international readership.
“Few, if any, serious newspapers in the world have made the transformation from print to digital only,” said John Paton, chair of Independent Digital News and Media Limited.
Additionally, online traffic has grown, particularly in the US, where the Independent is expanding its reporting staff. The Independent said it now had 30m monthly users in the US, its largest market, and 95m globally.
Charlie Beckett, a professor of media at the London School of Economics, said, “The digital advertising never replaces the old advertising,” he said. “But the key difference you make, to make it profitable, is to turn off the massive costs of your printing press.”
