👋 Howdy media mavericks,

Well I hope your display banners are coping with the existential dread. Because while you were optimising for viewability, the publishers were busy locking the gates and charging a tenner a month for entry (if you’re lucky).

Welcome to the Subscription Era.

Here’s what that means for you, your clients, and your very sweaty QBR decks:

Subscribers want to be there. They’re not rage-scrolling from Facebook or clicking on a fake celeb death ad. That means higher attention, more intent, and a lovely little brand-safe bubble for your creative.

💡 Translation: Less wastage, more engagement, fewer “But did anyone see it?” emails.

First-party data just became foie gras. Publishers know exactly who is reading, what they’re reading, and when they’ll come back for more.

💼 Agencies who play nice with publishers will get richer segments, better targeting, and—shock horror—personalised media plans that don’t suck.

The old CPM hustle is still around, but it’s now the starter tier. The real action? Metered access, hybrid models, and “sponsor the Sunday newsletter” placements.

📉 Agencies relying solely on display revenue will need to evolve—quickly—or risk becoming the media equivalent of a DVD rental shop.

Private deals are the new black. Subscriber-only inventory is exclusive, brand-safe, and comes with a velvet rope (and a higher CPM).

🧠 Think less bid density, more relationship management. Dust off those PMP decks, lads.

More paywalls = fewer impressions. This isn’t the Wild West of open web reach anymore. You’ll need multi-publisher deals and smarter cross-channel strategies to hit your numbers.

🚫 Blanket buys? Dead. Welcome to the curated era of media planning.

Subscribers pay to avoid clutter, so your 300x250 is not welcome unless it adds value. Native, sponsored, or transactional formats are your friends.

🧽 If your creative feels like an interruption, congratulations: it’ll be blocked, skipped, or sworn at.

Subscriber environments = premium expectations. That means your measurement game needs to step up.

📊 No more last-click nonsense—think attention metrics, customer lifetime value, and whether your brand actually moved the needle.

Subscription dominance has rewritten the rulebook. If your plan still relies on spray-and-pray reach and third-party cookies, you're not just behind—you’re prehistoric.

Want to survive?

🎯 Go data-deep, creative-smart, and PMP-hungry.
📈 Prove value. Buy quality. Evolve fast.

💌 Like this sort of brutal media truth?

Subscribe to The AdTech Journal newsletter—where we read the news reports so you don’t have to.

Until next time!
David