The Breakdown

Most publishers treat pricing like a menu: throw up a bunch of options and let readers figure it out. That’s a mistake.

Pete Ericson and Tyler Channel break down why subscription pricing is actually a nurturing path, a journey that guides readers from their first free article all the way to becoming loyal annual supporters. The episode uses ESPN’s disastrous US Open paywall experience as a cautionary tale, then shows what good nurturing looks like through examples from the Daily Memphian and a local news publisher who added $1,000 in monthly recurring revenue with a single email campaign.

The core insight: simplicity wins. Readers need clear expectations and a logical progression. When you complicate the funnel with too many options or surprise them with upgrade demands at the wrong moment, you create frustration instead of loyalty.

The ESPN Disaster: What Happens When Expectations Break

Pete’s story about ESPN’s US Open coverage is a masterclass in how to lose customer trust. He was paying for the Disney+ bundle with ESPN Premium, happily watching the early tournament rounds. Then the quarterfinals arrived and suddenly the stream wouldn’t load.

After 20 minutes of troubleshooting, he discovered his plan didn’t include the later rounds of the very tournament he’d been watching all week. To continue, he’d need to upgrade from roughly $11/month to nearly $30/month. But here’s where it got worse: when he went to Disney+ to upgrade, he found 12 to 18 different subscription options with no clear guidance on which one he needed.

The problems stack up:

• Blown expectations: If you let someone watch rounds 1-4, they expect to watch rounds 5-7
• Zero nurturing: No advance notice that an upgrade would be needed for later rounds
• Confusion at decision point: A dozen options when frustrated is the opposite of helpful
• Predictable churn: Pete upgraded for the finals, then immediately downgraded afterward

If ESPN had set expectations upfront: “Hey, you like tennis, here’s the plan that covers full grand slam access”, Pete would have paid more from day one and probably forgotten to cancel it. Instead, they created a hassle-driven upgrade cycle that guarantees short-term revenue and long-term resentment.

The Local Publisher Pricing Mess

Pete analyzes a large metro daily news publisher to show another common mistake: overcomplicating the pricing structure without any clear nurturing logic.

This (name not revealed) publisher offers:

• Weekly subscription: $2.99/week
• Monthly subscription: $9.99/month (their top seller)
• Day pass: $0.99
• No annual plan currently advertised

When Pete looked at their historical data, the annual plan (from previous periods) performed almost as well as monthly despite not being actively sold. The weekly plan sat at about 60% of monthly volume, and day passes were barely in the teens.

The fundamental problem: there’s no path. A reader can’t naturally progress from one tier to another because the tiers don’t build on each other logically. It’s just a menu of disconnected options. And critically, there’s nothing beyond the initial subscription to capture readers who want to support the publication at higher levels.

The Right Way: Daily Memphian’s Nurturing Structure

The Daily Memphian does it better (though Pete notes they still have a popup on their payment page, which is a mistake). Their pricing page shows the proper progression:

1. Monthly plan: Entry point for new subscribers
2. Annual plan: Marked “Most Popular” and positioned as the smart choice for committed readers
3. Two-year plan: Available but probably unnecessary according to Pete

The key is that each option serves a different stage of reader commitment. Monthly is for testing the waters. Annual is for readers signaling “I’m in for the long haul.” And then beyond that, you can offer additional ways to support.

Building Your Nurturing On-Ramp

Pete lays out the ideal subscription funnel with four clear stages:

Stage 1: Free Registration Capture an email address in exchange for access to one or two additional articles per month. This gets readers on your newsletter list and gives them a taste of your value. The registration wall should come before any paywall, it’s the essential first step in building your subscriber pipeline.

Stage 2: Monthly Subscription This is the entry tier for paying subscribers. It’s lower commitment, perfect for readers who want to try you out. Some will stay on monthly forever, and that’s fine, but the goal is to move them to annual.

Stage 3: Annual Subscription Your primary revenue goal. Annual subscribers are less volatile, less likely to churn, and represent a signal that readers are committed. Mark this as “Most Popular” on your pricing page because it should be. Moving readers from monthly to annual is a meaningful retention win even if the immediate revenue is slightly lower.

Stage 4: The Third Card Once readers are on annual plans, they’ve demonstrated long-term commitment. Now you can offer additional ways to support:

• Donations: Ask your best readers to contribute beyond their subscription to support your mission (works for both nonprofits and for-profits)
• Gift subscriptions: Massively underrated. Print publishing data shows 20% of paid subscribers should come from gifts. Most digital publishers ignore this entirely.
• Corporate/group subscriptions: Offer bulk access for businesses, schools, government, or organizations. Send them to a dedicated page with a form to discuss specific needs (physical location access, employee email domains, seat-based licensing, etc.)

The “third card” depends on your publication. If you’re mission-driven, lean into donations. If your readers are gift-givers, emphasize that. If you serve professional audiences, corporate subscriptions might be the winner.

The Friction Strategy for Nonprofits

Tyler shares a clever approach for nonprofit publishers who can’t legally create transactional paywalls: use friction as the upgrade motivator.

The model works like this:

• One free article, no registration required
• Hit article two: register for free to continue
• Registration gives you 24 hours of unlimited access
• After 24 hours, you see an upgrade prompt with two options: become a donor member for unlimited access, or renew your free plan for another 24 hours

The content is still technically free (meeting nonprofit requirements), but the hassle of renewing every day creates natural friction. Readers who come back repeatedly will eventually donate just to stop the interruption.

Tyler points out this is similar to YouTube Premium, you’re paying to remove friction. The content exists for free, but the ad-free experience is worth $15/month to people who watch regularly. Time is the currency people value.

The $1,000 Email Campaign

Tyler describes a local news publisher who wanted to test reader willingness to pay more. They sent a simple email campaign to existing subscribers explaining they were investing in more reporters, better coverage, and enhanced features like an events calendar.

The ask: would you consider upgrading from $10/month to $20/month as a “super supporter”?

The magic was in the execution. To upgrade, subscribers just had to reply “Yes” to the email. That’s it. No buttons, no forms, no checkout flow. The publisher would handle upgrading their account manually.

Results:

• Over 100 subscribers said yes within a few days
• Added over $1,000 in new monthly recurring revenue
• Some subscribers asked to donate an additional $100 on top of the upgrade
• Responses included grateful messages about the publication’s community value

Tyler notes the campaign went to about 1,200-1,500 people, making the response rate significant. And critically, this wasn’t a test of whether the publisher should double their base price, it was a temperature check on how much their most engaged readers valued the service.

Pete suggests this type of concierge upgrade campaign could also serve as a signal to consider modest price increases. If hundreds of people will voluntarily double their payment, maybe raising the base price from $10 to $12 wouldn’t face much resistance.

Key Takeaways

Keep subscription options simple. Monthly and annual plans should be your core offering. Additional options like weekly or day passes create confusion without adding meaningful value. The easier you make the decision, the faster readers convert.

Treat pricing as a nurturing path, not a menu. Readers should progress naturally from free registration to monthly to annual to supporter tiers. Each stage serves a different level of commitment, and your job is to guide them forward with clear value at each step.

Set and meet expectations consistently. ESPN’s mid-tournament paywall shock shows what happens when you violate reader trust. If someone starts consuming your content on one plan, don’t surprise them with upgrade demands halfway through. Communicate access boundaries upfront.

Gift subscriptions are massively underutilized. Print publishing data shows gifts should represent 20% of your paid subscriber base. Most digital publishers treat this as an afterthought, leaving significant revenue on the table.

Remove friction when asking for upgrades. The local publisher who generated $1,000 in new MRR did it by making the upgrade process as simple as replying “Yes” to an email. No forms, no hassle. When you want money, make giving it to you effortless.

Notable Quote

“If they had sort of handled me differently, like when I was signing up and it’s like ESPN and maybe they knew that I liked tennis, it’s the only sport I watch… If somehow they said, you want full access to the majors, the grand slams, you pay a little bit more. And then that would be my expectation. I would pay more and I’d probably forget about it and just leave the subscription instead of now I’m hassled and I have to upgrade and downgrade and I’m gonna blow up support.”

Pete Ericson

Try This Week

Review your current pricing page and count how many subscription options you’re showing. If it’s more than three core choices (monthly, annual, plus one supporter tier), you’re probably creating decision fatigue. Simplify to a clear nurturing path where readers can see the logical progression from entry-level to committed supporter.

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