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Payment for digital news remains at 12%, thanks to subscriptions 

Image by Mohamed Hassan at Pixabay

Payment continues to grow among respondents under 44 years of age (17%) while it falls among those over 64 years of age (8%).

  • Spain is one of the countries where almost half of those who pay subscriptions subscribe to two or more media (49%). 

  • The majority of subscribers (56%) pay less than the average monthly subscription in Spain (€10). Among those who do not pay, only 5% would pay that price or more. 

  • For the fourth consecutive year, more than 20% of respondents (24%) paid for a print newspaper the week prior to the survey. 

The data regarding payment for digital news shows a slight decrease in the percentage of respondents indicating that they have paid for digital news in the last year (2023), although this drop is within the margins of error of the survey. 



In comparison with the rest of the 41 countries where this question has been asked, Spain ranks 32nd. Once again this year, Norway leads the ranking of markets with the highest payment for digital news (40%), followed by Sweden (31%) and then the U.S. (22%). In total, 16% of respondents in the 41 markets paid for digital information in the past year. 



 Returning to Spain, the evolution of payment for digital news in the last five years, by age group sample shows that those under 24 years of age are the ones who show the highest payment -although in 2024 it has dropped considerably compared to the previous year, from 27% to 21%. Payment continues to grow among respondents aged 25 to 44 (17%) while it continues to fall among older age groups: 8% of those over 64 paid for digital news, four points less than in the previous edition. 



If we analyze the payment for news according to the level of trust and interest in the news, it is observed that those who have a high level of interest Degree tend to pay more for both printed and digital information, regardless of trust. Thus, 32% of those who reported high trust and high interest paid for printed news and 15% for digital news. In the case of those who reported leave trust and high interest, the percentages are still high: 29% paid for printed news and 17% for digital news. 



Seen in perspective, after four years in which the issue of respondents who paid for information -printed or digital- had stabilized, this year's data shows an increase in the percentage of Spaniards who did not pay for either digital or printed news (71%, five points more than last year). Fifteen percent of respondents paid only for print news (two points less), 8% paid for both print and digital and 3% paid only for digital news. 


 

The modality subscription is the most widespread among those who pay for digital news.

The regular digital subscription or joint subscription with the print edition are the most frequent modalities among those who paid for digital news. Thirty-five percent of those who paid did so through a regular digital subscription (five points less than the previous year) and 29% paid for a joint subscription to the digital and print editions of a medium (four points more). Finally, 22% accessed digital news through a gift subscription (up two points). In total, 85% of those who accessed a digital news service did so through some subscription subject . 



The rest of the modalities of payment for digital news present different trends. The modality donation grew slightly to 16%, while free access to news included in the payment of another service continues its downward curve to 28% (two points less than the previous year). Finally, payment per unit or copy increased slightly to 18%, the highest percentage in the last five years. 


 

How many media do Spaniards who pay for digital news subscribe to?

Spain is one of the markets in which almost half of those who pay subscriptions subscribe to two or more media (49%). Compared to last year, the percentage of subscribers who only subscribe to a single media outlet has increased from 45% to 50%, but the percentage of subscribers who subscribe to five or more media outlets has also increased (from 1% to 4%), group . 


 
In comparison with the rest of the countries where this question was asked, Spain is one of the six countries analyzed where the median issue of subscriptions is two, or in other words, almost half of the subscribers are subscribed to two media or more. 

Most subscribers pay less than the monthly subscription average in Spain (10€).

In this year's survey , those who reported paying for digital news were asked about the monthly price of the main subscription to which they subscribed. The majority of subscribers (56%) pay less than 10 euros per month. Considering that the average monthly subscription in Spain is precisely 10 euros, this means that only 35% of Spanish subscribers pay that amount or more; the rest either pay less (56%) or do not remember what they pay (85). 


 

When those who do not currently pay for digital news are asked about the fair monthly price they would be willing to pay, the majority (51%) respond that in any case they are not willing to pay anything for news and 44% would pay less than the subscription average monthly. Only 5% of non-payers would be willing to pay 10 euros or more for digital news. 


 

Payment for print news remains above 20%.

The data indicate an increase in the percentage of respondents who did not purchase a print newspaper in the week prior to the survey, reaching 75%. This is the highest level recorded since this question began to be asked in 2014, and represents an increase of four percentage points compared to last year. However, it is important to mention that, in the last four years the proportion of respondents who claim to have made a payment for printed newspapers has not fallen below 23%. In this sense, Spain is the only country out of the 47 countries where the survey is carried out in which this question is still asked, so it is not possible to establish comparisons with other countries. 



In terms of differences by gender, age and modality, 29% of men paid for a printed newspaper compared to 18% of women. Among those under 35, 31% purchased a printed newspaper compared to 21% of those over 35. In addition, 17% of those under 35 chose to receive the newspaper at home or elsewhere, in contrast to only 8% of those over 35.


 
With respect to income levels, no significant differences are observed in the purchase of printed newspapers; however, there are variations according to the level educational: 24% of people with Education basic or high school purchased a printed newspaper the week before the survey, compared to 27% of those with Degrees university or programs of study postgraduate (masters or doctorates). Ideologically, right-leaning respondents are more likely to purchase print newspapers (32%) than those with center or left-leaning ideologies (24% in both cases).

In general, print newspaper buyers tend to be highly participative in the public discussion (27% buy them), show a marked interest in news (30% of those interested buy them versus 16% of the disinterested) and in politics (34% versus 15% of the disinterested). Interestingly, newspaper purchases are higher among those who tend to avoid news (27%) compared to those who never avoid news (20%). Finally, print newspapers are particularly popular among those interested in economic or financial news (32%) and news podcast listeners (46%).


 

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