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| How Did Publisher Revenue Fare in Q1 2025? |
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| The New York Times Company Subscriber Growth: The New York Times added 250,000 new digital-only subscribers, reaching 11.66 million. Notably, 49% of subscribers are now bundle and multiproduct subscribers, which are segments with higher average revenue per user (ARPU). Revenue and Profit: Total revenue rose 7.1% year-over-year to $636 million. Adjusted operating profit surged 21.9% to $93 million, and net income reached $49.6 million. Digital Transformation: Digital subscription revenue jumped 14.4% to $335 million, and digital advertising revenue grew 12.4% YOY to $71 million, now making up 65.6% of total ad revenue. Print advertising continued to decline. Roku, Inc. Revenue Growth: Total net revenue rose 16% YOY to $1.02 billion, with platform revenue up 17% to $881 million driven by video advertising and streaming distribution. Streaming Engagement: Streaming hours increased by 5.1 billion YOY to 35.8 billion hours; The Roku Channel is now the #2 app on Roku’s platform by engagement in the U.S. ESPN / The Walt Disney Company Revenue and Profit: ESPN’s revenue rose 7% to $4.15 billion, but operating income fell 17% due to higher NFL and College Football Playoff licensing costs. Ad revenue gains from improved rates and viewership helped offset a 700,000 drop in subscribers (which now total 24.9 million). Streaming and Subscriber Growth: Disney’s streaming base hit 203 million across Disney+, Hulu, and ESPN+. College Sports Advertising and Viewership: College football and NFL games fueled strong ad demand and viewership for ESPN. ESPN is leaning into college sports as a key driver in this year’s upfronts, highlighting live sports’ premium value. College sports now bring in 40% of ESPN’s ad revenue, which is up 42% YOY, reports Sports Business Journal. Publishers Continue To Thrive Despite last week’s grim news for the LA Times and the economic uncertainty spurred by the Trump administration’s tariffs, some publishers are still finding success in bolstering their ad revenue. As Meredith Kopit Levien, CEO of The New York Times put it, the publication’s efforts to become ingrained in readers’ daily habits has helped protect its ad revenue growth from the wider macroeconomic environment. “We feel optimistic about all the drivers in our ad business,” she said on the NYT’s Q1 earnings call. Kopit further noted that the ad business now mirrors the consumer side, attracting broad marketer interest thanks to a large, engaged audience and stronger targeting across content verticals including news, sports, games, and shopping. Just because times are tough doesn't mean publishers are out for the count. There are positive signs in these earnings reports that show publishers are pivoting, diversifying their content, or changing their programmatic strategies. It's about understanding your audience, realizing where advertiser demand is flowing and finding the best strategic plays for your business. Did you like this newsletter? Is there a topic you want me to tackle next time? Feel free to hit me up with your feedback at abyrd@admonsters.com. |
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| Monster Mashup |
| Cracks in the Ad Stack: Publishers Want Power, Not Just Promises Publishers aren’t celebrating the Google antitrust ruling. It just confirmed their reality. From floor pricing frustrations to platform lock-in, they’re done waiting for structural change. They're ready to reclaim control: one lever, one partner, one practice at a time. Read more. Cookies Are Back (Sort Of): Now Get Back To Work Google paused third-party cookie deprecation (again), but what is the real takeaway? It was never just about cookies. Keith Petri, CEO, Lockr by Viant, writes about why future-proof identity strategies matter more than ever. Read more. Dotdash Meredith’s Earnings Are Flat, Following Google Grief And Tariff Trouble These are strange times for a publisher that’s all in on contextual advertising, given the third-party cookie’s latest stay of execution. But what did Dotdash Meredith's earnings reveal? Read more. The Future Of Data: Achieving Global Consistency And Agility Through Unified Taxonomies And Automation Today’s global organizations are facing a critical challenge: fragmented data and inconsistent taxonomies. This fragmentation hinders unified customer experiences, and more. Read more. |
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