News Corp Australia has reported a $60.7 million loss in 2020.
Of course, it’s been a turbulent time for Australian media, the pandemic has taken its toll and the industry while still vibrant has definitely felt it. Particularly last year, when the pandemic was new and the industry as a whole was more nervous.
News Corp is an example of a media giant that has felt the strain of the pandemic. According to The Guardian, News Corp has attributed its financial losses to advertising revenues being cut and community and regional closures. Basically, print suffered the most during the pandemic.
Let’s not forget that last year saw News Corp axe over a hundred print titles and turn them into digital-only, a change that will take a while for the media giant to reap the benefits from.
Thankfully, it’s not all bad news, while News Corp has certainly taken a hit, its subscriptions services are booming. According to The Sydney Morning Herald, digital subscriptions are on an upswing with a 25 per cent increase seen this year, News Corp is now making more money from its subscription services than its advertisers.
This seems to indicate that while print may not be what it once was, Australians are still willing to pay for their content and their news, they just want to read it from their smartphones.
News Corp is slowly but surely beginning to understand the new normals and perhaps this will pay off next financial year!
