An Update on Mediaite Subscriptions

Any website’s success hinges entirely on listening to its readers and viewers, and Mediaite is obviously no exception. Our success has been fueled by the articles we publish being widely shared and from our many regular readers who check out the site numerous times per day. It was based on that loyal readership that we successfully launched Mediaite+, which offers an ad free experience and subscription only stories.

Two weeks ago I announced that after reading ten stories per month, a membership to Mediaite+ would be required. First off, thank you to the thousands who responded by signing up for Mediaite+. I hope you are enjoying the enhanced Mediaite experience, and it sounds like many of the new members are. Others made clear their frustration at being “forced” to subscribe. We saw that both from the comment sections as well as the broad behavioral patterns we track. Some level of rebellion against a subscription must be expected in the short term but it does seem that many more of you are now picking and choosing single stories rather than hanging out on the home page and clicking on many (thereby exhausting your ten free stories).

I want Mediaite to be your go to place for what happened that day in the world of politics, media and beyond. While overall traffic has not changed much from the week before we made the subscription mandatory, one of the things I have always cherished about the Mediaite audience was the amount of time spent on the home page and in the comment sections.

When I announced the new subscription, I pointed out that Mediaite was one of the only major independent sites that is also privately owned with no outside investors. So while there are no deep pockets to hit when we seek to grow and expand, I also don’t have to check in with anyone when changing my mind. So after much deliberation and statistical analysis, I have decided to switch Mediaite back to a voluntary subscription model. You have spoken with your words and actions and I heard you.

To those who signed up for Mediaite+ since we made it mandatory after ten stories, I hope the benefits of being ad free and having access to subscription only stories are clear. But if you signed up for an annual subscription in the past two weeks and would now like a refund, please email support+mediaite@getadmiral.com and we are happy to provide it. Those who signed up for the free month will still get to enjoy those perks for the remainder of the month-long period and I hope at the end of that time that you choose to renew.

Most importantly, I want you all to know that this is a community that I never take for granted. Thank you again for your continuing support of the site and here is to more great things in the months ahead.