News24 hits 85,185 subscribers

Naspers revealed that News24’s paywall subscriptions increased by 35% over the last year, helping to stem the decline in Media24’s revenue.

Naspers owns 100% of Media24, South Africa’s leading print and digital media group with interests in digital media, newspapers, magazines, eCommerce, book publishing, and media logistics.

Like most traditional media companies, Media24 was a victim of South Africa’s economic downturn and strained marketing budgets.

Two of Media24’s main competitors, Arena Holdings and Independent Media, have announced significant job cuts as they restructure to become sustainable.

Media24 has also embarked on a strategy to build a smaller, profitable media business with a significant interest in eCommerce.

It started to cut costs many years ago, and the tough economic conditions have cemented its drive towards a more sustainable digital future.

Creating a leaner company was needed to address declining revenues. Media24’s revenue fell from $257 million in FY 2022 to $217 million in FY 2023.

Naspers’ results for the first half of the 2024 financial year revealed that Media24’s revenue continued to decline.

It generated $83 million in the first six months of 2024, down 22% from the $106 a year earlier. On a constant currency basis, revenue declined 9%.

Media24 swung from a $2 million profit in the first six months of FY 2023 to a loss of $1 million over the same period in FY 2024.

As a traditional print media company, Media24 is transitioning to a digital publisher with strong eCommerce services.

Its flagship online publication, News24, continues to dominate South Africa’s publishing landscape with 161 million monthly pageviews and 739,000 daily visitors.

Netwerk24, Media24’s Afrikaans online publications, generates 88 million page views and attracts 156,000 daily readers.

The good news is that Media24’s new revenue stream – paid online subscriptions – is progressing well.

News24’s paywall subscriptions increased 35% over the last year to 85,185. Netwerk24’s paywall subscriptions declined 4% to 92,044.

It should be noted that Netwerk24 implemented a new payment platform, which could explain the decline.