Many outlets have increased reliance on Apple News+; The Daily Beast is set to make $3M-$4M from it in 2024, and Time says it delivers a 7-figure annual revenue
The Scoop — Like many digital publishers, The Daily Beast was struggling at the end of 2023. Bluesky: @jbaer.bsky.social . X: @racheljanfaza , @jeremyreesnz , @ericdkoch , @michaelroston , @journalistslike , @michaelsderby , @bendreyfuss , @baekdal , @semaforben , @nick_field90 , @malexjohnson , and @walterolson . LinkedIn: Hanna Evron See also Mediagazer Bluesky: Jesse Baer / @jbaer.bsky.social : Great news: this story always has a happy ending! [embedded post] X: Rachel Janfaza / @racheljanfaza : Interesting read. In listening sessions with young people, I always ask them where they get their news. The number who tell me they get it “from Apple News” continues to rise... @jeremyreesnz : The news media has tried web, mobile, social media, aggregators, Google....why not Apple+? https://www.semafor.com/... Eric Koch / @ericdkoch : Anecdotally- I open a lot of push alerts from Apple News. @maxwelltani onto something here. Michael Roston / @michaelroston : had no idea publishers were getting paid to make specific content for Apple News https://www.semafor.com/... @journalistslike : I subscribe to 9+ papers. Get news alerts from 20+ news outlets. I currently have a free 3 month trial to Apple News. Have never opened it Michael S. Derby / @michaelsderby : Speaking purely on the subscriber side Apple News+ is a really good value and the curation of news is generally pretty solid. Would like op-ed stuff out of the news feed, but that's not a big thing. Ben Dreyfuss / @bendreyfuss : Everyone makes fun of me for tweeting Apple News links all the time but you lot are the weirdos! Apple News is great! America loves Apple News! Thomas Baekdal / @baekdal : Publishers simply never learn... (also, Apple News+ is not ‘direct’ revenue) Ben Smith / @semaforben : Big @maxwelltani story on a huge, unnoticed story in media: The rise and rise of Apple News https://www.semafor.com/... Nick Field / @nick_field90 : Similar to the movie and TV streaming fight, where everyone's fighting to be the new cable that controls access to all the other sites. Apple's trying to be the one-stop spot for movies, news, TV, music, podcasts, practically everything https://twitter.com/... Alex Johnson / @malexjohnson : The real genius at Apple is whoever has managed to convince publishers over and over and over again that Apple News is the savior. Walter Olson / @walterolson : I had been ignoring Apple News but it seems it's worth a look, if only as a means of single-pay aggregated access to the regional press. LinkedIn: Hanna Evron : Celebrating 8 years on Apple News this week, what an incredible ride it's been. — https://lnkd.in/... See also Mediagazer
Context & Ripple Effects
Apple News+ launched amid questions about whether it could add subscribers beyond its early burst; reports later said the service struggled to sustain subscriber growth. The latest publisher revenue figures show that, even with those concerns, the service has become a meaningful distribution and licensing channel for some outlets.
This creates a sharper contrast with the New York Times’ earlier decision to leave Apple News to prioritize direct paying relationships. The Daily Beast and Time illustrate why publishers under revenue pressure may accept more platform-mediated reach and income.
First-order effects
- Apple News+ becomes a material 2024 revenue contributor for The Daily Beast, while Time identifies the service as a seven-figure annual revenue source.
- The two publishers gain an additional paid-distribution channel, reducing their immediate reliance on revenue generated solely through their own sites and subscription funnels.
Second-order effects
- Publishers facing similar monetization pressure have a clearer incentive to expand participation in Apple News+, strengthening Apple’s leverage as a distribution partner.
- The revenue upside intensifies the trade-off between platform income and reader ownership: outlets pursuing Apple News+ must weigh that channel against the direct-relationship strategy exemplified by the Times’ exit.
Third-order effects
- If this pattern persists, premium news distribution may become more concentrated in a small set of platform bundles, with publishers treating direct subscriptions and licensed platform revenue as complementary rather than mutually exclusive.
- That can deepen the subscription scale trap: smaller publishers may gain predictable channel revenue, but have less control over audience data, discovery, and the customer relationship than they would through direct subscriptions.
The trend: Publishers are increasingly balancing direct-reader strategies with platform bundles that can provide meaningful recurring revenue but shift audience ownership toward the distributor.