Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index: Increase in sponsorship and data sales balance out fall in display revenues
Published: 14 Jan 2025
AOP and Deloitte surveyed UK digital publishers to provide an overview of revenue levels across multiple channels and platforms
London, UK, 14th January 2025: The latest Digital Publishers’ Revenue Index (DPRI) from the Association of Online Publishers (AOP) and Deloitte reveals the continuing decline in display advertising as a revenue stream for digital publishers, with a 11.4% decrease in Q3 2024 resulting in flat growth overall. Digital revenue declined slightly by 0.1% year-on-year (YoY) compared to Q3 2023 for a total of £152.8 million.
The fall in display revenues follows ongoing trends, as digital publishers continue to diversify their revenue streams. Typically, increasing subscription revenues — the second largest category at £49 million versus £58 million for display — balances out decreases in display. However, the comparatively modest 4.9% Q3 growth in subscriptions was not enough to make up the shortfall.
Most growth in Q3 2024 was driven by a surprise 18.3% increase in sponsorship revenues and a 66.3% increase in the miscellaneous category – for totals of £12.9 million and £14.8 million respectively. The most likely source of “miscellaneous” growth is data sales, either to aggregators, business partners, or AI companies seeking model training materials.
Digital audio saw its first decline (-3.3%) after many quarters of growth, while video fell by 7.4%. However, video’s declines are isolated to desktop-only advertising (-48.5%), as it returned 30% growth in multi-platform campaigns.
Off-platform revenues also saw a substantial Q3 increase at 60.7% YoY, versus just 3.7% when measured as a moving annual total (MAT). This discrepancy suggests that publishers have only recently turned their off-platform strategies around. A year ago, publishers would have been reeling from Meta’s deprioritisation of news, but they have since redirected their efforts to WhatsApp, TikTok, and BlueSky. Judging by the YoY growth, this has been a success.
Just 30% of respondents reported growth in Q3 2024, meaning that the majority of publishers are experiencing losses despite overall revenues remaining flat. This follows an ongoing and concerning trend: 58% of respondents reported growth in Q3 2023, falling to 50% the following quarter, then 43%, 35%, and now 30% — the most extreme concentration of growth among top performers yet reported by the DPRI.
Andy Cowen, lead partner for telecoms, media and entertainment at Deloitte, said: “While overall publishing revenues appear stable, the reality for most publishers is a decline masked by the success of a select few. The reliance on data sales and sponsorships, while welcome, underlines the need for publishers to find sustainable revenue models beyond traditional advertising. The slowdown in subscription growth only adds further urgency to suppliers as this revenue stream may be approaching a ceiling. Publishers who successfully crack the code of diversification, particularly in off-platform strategies, will be the ones who thrive in this continuously evolving market.”
Richard Reeves, Managing Director at AOP, commented: “This quarter’s results demonstrate the value in revenue diversification as — despite bullish predictions — any increase in advertising spend has clearly not filtered through to digital publishers. Instead, sponsorships, data sales, and subscriptions are doing the heavy lifting for revenue growth. However, if the lower-than-usual growth in subscriptions we saw this quarter continues, publishers may be nearing their peak in subscriber numbers.”
-ENDS-
Notes to Editor
UK Digital Publisher Revenue (based on revenues for AOP publisher members) AOP & Deloitte DPRI report |
||
MAT to Sep 2024 vs. MAT to Sep 2023 (% change) |
Q3 2024 vs. Q3 2023 (% change) |
|
Total DPRI revenue |
0.3 |
-0.1 |
Display advertising |
-12.7 |
-11.4 |
Subscriptions |
7.3 |
4.9 |
Online Video |
-12 |
-7.4 |
Sponsorship |
13.9 |
18.3 |
Recruitment |
-30.3 |
-21.6 |
Other Classified |
-4.3 |
-81.6 |
Miscellaneous |
70.0 |
66.3 |
Off Platform |
3.7 |
60.7 |
About the DPRI Report
The Q3 2024 DPRI report — conducted by AOP and Deloitte — is based on a survey of 13 UK digital publishers comprising nine B2C publishers and four B2B publishers. The aim of the report is to provide an overview of revenue levels across multiple channels and platforms — as well as insight into publisher sentiment — and to benchmark these findings against previous quarters.
While the DPRI revenue index records a look-back of data over Q3 2024; the publisher sentiment index considers Board member observations given in Q4 2024 to provide a timelier understanding of current feelings. This is a reporting change implemented in 2019.
The information contained in this press release is correct at the time of going to press.
About Association of Online Publishers
Association of Online Publishers (AOP) is an industry body representing digital publishing companies that create original, branded, quality content. AOP champions the interests of media owners from diverse backgrounds including newspaper and magazine publishing, TV and radio broadcasting, and pure online media. For more information, please visit
About Deloitte
In this press release, references to “Deloitte” are references to one or more of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited (“DTTL”), a UK private company limited by guarantee, and its network of member firms, each of which is a legally separate and independent entity.
Please see deloitte.com/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of DTTL and its member firms.
Deloitte LLP is a subsidiary of Deloitte NSE LLP, which is a member firm of DTTL, and is among the UK's leading professional services firms.
For more information, please visit www.deloitte.co.uk.
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