I want to take a moment to thank everyone who signed up for Prime in February – a total of 342 new subscribers. We have a goal of adding 4,000 new subscribers by July. Becoming a member of Prime is a critical part of our business model at TPM. But this year we’re also increasing what members get.
There’s the stuff Primates have always gotten – no ads on mobile, dramatically fewer ads on your desktop website, full RSS feeds, access to The Hive, Live Chats, special site features, etc. But we’re also expanding the original content we publish in Prime as well as bringing Prime to our mobile site.
In addition to strengthening TPM as a business, a primary goal of Prime has always been to create a part of the site and a funding model for things that may not have mass appeal but which we think will be of great interest to our core readers – whether that’s about politics or other current affairs topics or policy issues that need a much closer look or even history. The new series I mentioned a few weeks ago about the changing global energy market and the rise of renewables is an example of that. And you’ll see more original features rolled out over the coming months.
This spring, we’ll be running a membership drive to help us get most of the way toward that 4,000 sign up goal. Or, now, 3,658 goal. Remember, too, if you can’t afford to sign up–if you’re a senior on a fixed income, a student with no cash or anyone facing financial hardship–you can apply for one of our subscription credits. TPM is a business. But it’s very important to us that no core reader is excluded from Prime because they can’t afford it.
Thanks again to everyone who signed up.
