This is the statement published on the Telegraph website:
At the Telegraph Media Group (TMG), we are delighted with the progress that we have made to future proof our journalism to thrive long term, delivering a transformation whilst maintaining profitability. The Group is focused on a subscriber-first strategy underpinned by long term investment in The Telegraph’s digital transformation.
This is evidenced by the number of paying subscribers and registrants since we switched to a paywall format and registered-access model two years ago, whilst maintaining a very healthy ARPS (average revenue per subscription).
TMG’s transformation will continue into the following years and the 10-1-23 strategy remains central to our vision – namely the aim to reach 10 million registrants and 1 million subscribers to sign up to the Telegraph by 2023.
Our subscriber readership – where we develop a habitual and paid relationship with our subscribers over and above the casual reader- is growing each month. This is a testament to the quality of our journalism. As of December 2019, we now have more digital subscriptions than print subscriptions. In 2019 we saw a growth of 44% in volume of digital subscriptions.
The ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulations) results published, today, January 16th, are the final set of ABC results Telegraph Media Group will take part in. Whilst they do show that the Telegraph remains the highest selling quality newspaper, by circa 8,000 copies a day, the ABC metric is not the key metric behind our subscription strategy and not how we measure our success.
We will be transparent with our core subscriber numbers which are omni-channel and we will communicate these numbers each month. We will share both volumes and average revenue per subscription.
In December 2019, we have:
- 423,311 subscriptions across print and digital, with 5,236 of net new subscriptions this month.
- Digital = 213,868, Print = 209,443
- ARPS (blended average revenue per subscription) of £194.
The Subscriptions and ARPS totals are independently assured by PWC. The last audit took place for the period ending December 2019. The next audit will take place in March 2020.
Key highlights:
- The politics channel was the biggest subscription driver because of our outstanding election coverage.
- December was a record month for subscriber acquisition; with more subscriptions to the Telegraph than any other time.
- A record number of subscriptions acquired via mobile.
As we move into the next decade, Telegraph Media Group will continue to a) transform our business, b) invest in journalism and c) refine our products.
There will be further initiatives to serve our loyal and unique reader base. These will be announced in due course.
