Nicholas Gray has been appointed by News Corp Australia to oversee its digital subscription strategy, which last month confirmed it had passed the one million mark.
See Also: News Corp Australia reaches new milestone: One million paid digital subscribers
Gray’s appointment follows Brendan Collogan’s decision to leave the business. Collogan played an instrumental role in building the subscription base and developing new brands including CODE Sports.
Gray’s new duties will add to his existing remit leading News Corp Australia’s strategy and relationships with Google, Facebook, Apple and other platforms. His new title will be managing director, tech partnerships and subscriptions.
Managing director, consumer, Mark Reinke said the timing was right.
“The hand-over at this point in our evolution is timely,” he said.
“We are fresh from achieving a major milestone and are well underway pursuing our next phase to push beyond one million subscribers but new challenges lie ahead.
“Nicholas is well positioned to provide the right level of stability for the business while maintaining a strong focus on our growth trajectory established under Brendan.”
Gray said he was looking forward to the challenge.
“Digital subscribers are so important to the future of journalism, and it’s a privilege to be asked to lead this high-performing team who have already achieved so much,” he said.
“We will also continue to work closely with the tech platforms to drive audience, licensing revenue and subscriber growth.”
Reinke also paid tribute to Collogan.
“I would like to formally thank and acknowledge the contribution that Brendan has made and wish him all the very best for his future.
“When Brendan joined us seven years ago he quickly pivoted the growth strategy to be content-led. He leaves us with a rich legacy of world-leading subscription capabilities and know-how, culminating in our recent announcement that more than one million Australians now subscribe to one or more of our publications digitally.
“Nicholas brings his deep commercial acumen and strong working relationships with the tech platforms to further drive our audience and licensing revenue growth across all our properties – free and paid – as well as digital subscriber growth.”
Reinke said the next phase to push beyond one million subscribers had begun in earnest.
“Audiences are consuming our content on our platforms but increasingly new audiences are seeking our trusted news and information whether print, digital, video, audio or social media on myriad platforms that we don’t own.
“Understanding where and how our audiences are consuming our content and devising strategies to bring them back to our platforms is increasingly critical to our subscription growth aspirations.
“Given this imperative it makes sense for Nicholas to add to his existing role as a key conduit with the tech platforms and assume responsibility for digital subscriptions.
“Nicholas formally begins the new role from December 12, while Brendan will remain with us until early February working on several important remaining projects.”
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Top Image: Nicholas Gray