The Financial Times passes another major digital milestone

The Financial Times has passed another significant milestone by securing more revenues from digital than print.

It means that it can claim to be the first mainstream UK newspaper to be able to describe itself as a truly “digital content business.”

The paper had previously reported that it earned more revenue from content than advertising. Content now accounts for 60% of the group’s revenues. So the paywall is clearly paying off.

Its total paid circulation, combining print and digital, stands at 843,000, up 75,000 (about 13%) year on year. Three quarters of those are digital-only subscribers.

The news comes as the paper today (Thursday) celebrates the first anniversary of its takeover by the Japanese media company Nikkei.

When I interviewed its chairman, Tsuneo Kita, 12 months ago he said there was no possibility of his interfering in the FT’s newsroom affairs. Has he honoured his pledge?

John Ridding, the FT chief executive, said firmly: “He has been true to his word. Our confidence in Nikkei has been fully vindicated.”

There has been no editorial involvement apart from secondments, with Nikkei journalists in the FT’s office and FT staffers spending time in Nikkei’s headquarters.

Ridding has been to Tokyo at least eight times over the past year in order to forge the commercial links that have resulted in the formation of a combined advertising sales team in Asia, a burgeoning broadcasting partnership and joint technological innovation.

These changes have come against a background of what Ridding describes as “an intense year of disruption and turbulence”, meaning the vote for Brexit and the election of Donald Trump.

The FT, which strongly favoured Britain remaining in the European Union, has benefitted from the vote to leave on 23 June. Since then, business people have been avidly seeking information and opinions on what will happen next.

Ridding believes the boost in audience numbers, in both the UK and Europe, confirms the wisdom of the FT’s core strategy in providing reliable quality journalism.

Which takes us neatly to the hot topic of “fake news” and “post-truth politics.” Ridding stresses that trust is the key to winning and retaining readers.

Clearly, he says, Google and Facebook “do not want to be arbiters of truth” while we at the FT “take truth seriously... it’s our responsibility, it’s our business.”

But, given the digital numbers, will the FT remain faithful to newsprint? “Print is still profitable,” says Ridding, “and our figures for the weekend FT are dynamic.”

He is keener still to point to the latest version of the FT’s website, launched on 4 October, and reels off the user speeds: 1.5 seconds on desktop screens and 2.1 seconds on mobile devices.

“This makes it one of the fastest news sites in the world,” he says .