Deborah Haynes covers serious stuff, like foreign affairs, national security and defense — the sorts of topics that might not make good fodder for a snarky newsletter or a hot-talk podcast. Even so, her employer, Sky News, has some new ideas about how to reach viewers that could put Haynes in contact with viewers similar to the ones that enjoy those up-and-coming creator ventures. Sky News, part of Comcast, on Thursday launched a new mobile app all about defense and security, with Haynes and others at its center.
Subscriptions to the new “Defence Insider” cost £14.99 per month — about $20.31 in U.S. dollars, more than the fees for a similar subscription to CNN, Fox Nation, or the recently introduced MS NOW “Membership.” Indeed, the price of getting “Defence Insider” is on par with the highest-cost monthly dues for HBO Max or Netflix. Sky News thinks subscribers will see the value. The company thinks people eager to learn more about the app’s topics will crave an experience that puts high level analysis “right in the palm of their hands.” Other mainstream news outlets might pay attention to what Sky News is doing, particularly in a moment when many top journalists are launching independent publications, podcasts and communities — and keeping the money they earn for themselves.
Subscribers to “Defence Insider” get video reporting; expert briefings and explainers; interviews with defense experts and decision makers; access to live events and subscriber-only experiences; and the opportunity to ask Sky News journalists and analysts questions directly via online features and community discussions. For legacy media outlets, she says, Sky News’ ‘Defence Weekly” represents “the first true architecture for it.” Noosphere, which also operates a creator venture that bundles journalists including Chuck Todd and Brody Mullins under a single subscription, is in talks with “major legacy media in the U.S.,” she says about providing similar technology that would allow mainstream journalists to publish information and video more quicky than is the norm. Ferguson believes such technology would give reporters at traditional news organizations something they truly covet: the chance to work in more entrepreneurial fashion like their counterparts who lead podcasts and newsletters.
For Sky, the issue is less about trying to keep talent and more about showing up in relevant ways for news aficionados. While the goal isn’t necessarily retention of talent, he says, “if that was a byproduct, that is great.” Some mainstream news companies already seem open to new types of arrangements. NBC News earlier this year stuck an alliance with technology journalist Joanna Stern, who recently launched her own venture, “New Things.” Fox News Channel last year struck a deal that makes the team behind the popular conservative podcast “Ruthless” part of its array of contributors.
MS NOW’s new “Membership” subscription product gives customers the chance to ask questions directly of Rachel Maddow, Stephanie Ruhle and others every day — on video. Some of the nation’s biggest news purveyors are scrambling to find ways to appeal to younger audiences who gravitate more readily to digital outlets that may only have months or a few years of traction. Magid, a longtime consultant that works with local TV news operations and large media companies, has urged news executives to take note of the growing faith viewers place in individual anchors, influencers and creators over news brands.
Before launching its new “Membership,” MS NOW executives tapped 18,000 news consumers to find out what features would draw them to subscribe. Many of the interviewees were looking for more than just a place to find the daily news cycle, says Rebecca Kutler, president of MS NOW. Jen Psaki, the MS NOW 9 p.m. anchor, has been experimenting with a quick-hit program on YouTube.
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