Nov. 17, 2025 /Mpelembe Media/ — The GNI Future Formats Accelerator 2025 focuses on “Supporting Long-Term Success” with a masterclass titled “From Reach to Revenue: Monetising Next-Gen News Formats.” A key section addresses the challenges and opportunities in monetising Gen Z audiences, highlighting their preference for trustworthy, flexible, and visually driven content, and their willingness to pay for news that aligns with their identity. The documents explore three primary monetisation methods: direct monetisation (including student discounts and tiered offerings like those from The Economist), on-platform monetisation (using platforms such as YouTube and Apple Podcasts), and sponsored content.
Furthermore, the material stresses the importance of experimentation to mitigate risks and accelerate learning, outlining the process and different types of experiments used by organisations like the Financial Times to validate new format ideas.
The most effective strategies for monetising next-generation news formats among diverse audiences, particularly focusing on Gen Z, revolve around three primary approaches: direct monetisation, platform-based monetisation, and advertising and sponsored content.
These strategies are crucial because Gen Z’s selective news purchasing habits increasingly challenge established monetisation frameworks. This audience is much more willing to pay for news when it fits their ideal experience—that is, if it is trustworthy, flexible, and personally relevant.
1. Direct Monetisation Strategies
Direct monetisation involves converting audience engagement into paying relationships, often through subscriptions or paywalls.
A. Focusing on Next-Gen Value and Experience: Gen Z is 2x as likely to pay for or donate to news in newer formats, such as audio, video, or email newsletters from news creators. Strategies must ensure that monetisation feels authentic and valuable:
- Trust and Community: Gen Z audiences are more likely to pay for news from individuals, communities, and peers they trust. A recommendation from social media or a friend would increase the likelihood of subscribing for 30% of Gen Z respondents.
- Example: Newonce gained 6,000 new, mostly under-35 subscribers, by offering subscriber-only access to private chat communities on platforms like Discord and Twitch, demonstrating the power of community-led engagement.
- Personal Significance and Customisation: Younger audiences are very selective and only pay for products that offer value, quality, and authenticity. Publishers should offer news that reflects their identity, values, or personal interests.
- 39% of Gen Z respondents reported that customisable coverage areas increased the value of a news product.
- Example: Zetland allows subscribers the flexibility to choose between news topics and formats, leading to 45% of its subscribers being in their 20s or 30s.
B. Using Low-Barrier Entry Points: Since Gen Z might not be ready for a full subscription, publishers can use tiered or “lite” offerings to build habit and loyalty:
- Lite Offerings: Create a low-cost, low-friction tier for casual, time-poor readers.
- Example: SvD launched SvD Kompakt, a free, concise news product with a personal editorial voice, designed to engage younger audiences, intending to monetise them when they upgrade. This product gained over 30,000 subscribers, with 60% being entirely new users.
- Example: The Economist successfully created a low-barrier entry point by launching Podcasts+, a premium, standalone audio subscription, well suited to younger and more casual audiences. This product gained over 30,000 subscribers in six months, with the majority being new users who had never paid for an audio subscription before.
- Student Discounts: Legacy media brands commonly use significant student discounts (ranging from 50% to nearly 90%) to attract younger readers. However, publishers must be cautious as excessive discounting risks devaluing the product and making the transition to full-price subscriptions harder.
2. Platform-Based Monetisation Strategies
These strategies leverage the immense reach of social media, video, and audio platforms, where younger audiences prefer to discover news for free.
A. Converting Social Traffic to Direct Users: Publishers need to be creative to move audiences from social media to their owned platforms (website/app):
- Frictionless Conversion: Employ tactics like offering 1-click sign-up via Apple or Google logins, or requiring registration for free webinars, Q&As, or contests.
- Comment-Triggered Direct Messages (DMs): Use auto-DM tools (e.g., Manychat) to send relevant links, articles, or sign-up prompts when users comment on a social post, keeping them engaged without forcing them to leave the app immediately.
- Platform-Native Engagement: Prioritise formats that algorithms promote, such as Reels, Shorts, and Carousels, and use creator-led Calls To Action (CTAs) to prompt users to “tap bio link” or “check the full story”.
B. Native Monetisation on Platforms (e.g., YouTube and Podcasts): Publishers can generate recurring revenue directly on large distribution platforms:
- YouTube Memberships: These monetize superfans who exclusively consume content on the platform. Strategy involves:
- Offering a tiered proposition with perks like early access to stories, behind-the-scenes reporting, journalist Q&As, or exclusive explainers.
- Leveraging engagement tools like the Community tab for polls, badges, unique emojis, and live streams to foster loyalty.
- Maximising revenue by combining memberships with display ads, mid-roll ads, and brand sponsorships.
- It is crucial to verify if the YouTube audience is distinct from the website audience to avoid cannibalising the subscription model.
- Example: The Rest Is Politics introduced a YouTube Membership tier (£5.99/month) offering ad-free viewing, bonus episodes, and exclusive Discord access.
- Podcast Platforms (Spotify/Apple): Monetisation methods include:
- Subscriptions offering core perks like ad-free listening and early access.
- Ads, particularly host-read ads, for higher engagement.
- Example: L’Équipe successfully monetised its mobile-first audience by offering a premium subscription within Apple Podcasts, including ad-free listening and subscriber-only episodes.
3. Advertising and Sponsored Content Strategies
As user-generated content (UGC) rises in popularity, publishers must leverage their unique strengths to attract advertisers.
- Aligning with the Audience: Actively search for partners and curate brands that align closely with the Gen Z audience and the publisher’s brand.
- Example: The Daily Aus, which reaches 2 million users monthly (85% under 30), combines podcast sponsorship, social media promotion, and newsletter inclusion for typical partner packages.
- Emphasising Trust and Safety: Sponsored content with news publishers offers credibility through a journalistic tone and fact-checked storytelling. Publishers also offer a brand-safe environment with editorial oversight, unlike UGC, which carries controversy risks.
- Data Collection for Higher Yields: Collecting first-party age data enables the targeting of younger audiences, unlocking higher direct advertising yields. A user who has given cookie consent is worth 3.6x more than a user without consent.
- Strategic Format Selection: Publishers should weigh production costs with expected revenue. Branded videos and podcast sponsorships generally offer high potential revenue, while native articles offer medium revenue for low production costs.
- Repurposing Content for Efficiency: Content can be repurposed for ad-revenue sharing programmes, making production cost-neutral.
- Example: The New Statesman video-recorded its studio podcasts and uploaded clipped episodes, growing YouTube views to 1 million per month and offsetting production costs via YouTube and Acast revenue.
In essence, monetising next-generation news formats is less about erecting high walls and more about building multiple, flexible bridges. Publishers must treat different platforms and formats (like audio and short-form video) as unique entry points—some leading to micro-payments or platform memberships, and others leading to higher-yield advertising opportunities, all while ensuring the content consistently reflects the values and identity sought by the diverse, digitally native audience.