Apple News shares revenue with news publishers, and as a preinstalled app on Apple products. Amazing number of users. Should publishers share their journalism on apps, or focus on growing their own gardens with first-party data and direct subscriptions?
UK based subscription research company Analysis of Ender We explore this question in a new cheekily titled report, “Big apple, uneven bite.”
Apple News is quite opaque, but reports suggest that the paid version (Apple News+) More subscribers than any other independent news brand in the UK It has 1.7 million subscribers. Approximately half of the subscription revenue generated (approximately $136 million) will be distributed to partner publications.
However, these rewards are “unequally distributed.” Bron Maher summarized in helpful writing For media operators.
Apple provides revenue “proportional to the share of clicks generated within the platform.” Maher explains who stands to benefit most:
Brands that Apple considers safe, high-quality news brands, such as The Times (London) and The Daily Telegraph, frequently appear in the app’s most prominent “Top Stories” section, where they receive the lion’s share of attention. According to Enders, UK national newspapers “account for 55% of time spent on Apple News, despite having only 5% of titles,” compared to 22% and 68% for magazines and “digital native” brands, respectively.
But ironically, the biggest winners in top stories, the publishers, have reason to hold back. They tend to have their own owned and operated paywalls, so they have to weigh “potential trade-offs between increased revenue and their core subscription proposition.”
The New York Times and Financial Times, both of which have strong subscription business, are notable for not appearing on Apple News. Apple News+ subscriptions are “simply additive” to news companies that don’t yet have “large, mature owned-and-operated subscription businesses,” Enders’ report claims.
for Publishers with high traffic dependenceApple News can provide “a rare buffer in a volatile environment,” the report said. “As search discovery becomes less reliable, millions of users are now encountering premium journalism through services they already pay for, reducing friction and strengthening Apple News as the default entry point.”
The report predicts that Apple News’ influence will grow as the use of AI increases.
“In a ‘Google Zero’ environment, where search and AI-driven discovery increasingly resolve user intent without referral traffic, strategic reliance on platforms like Apple News is likely to increase, especially as publishers drive viewers to apps and controlled environments,” the report said.