Japan's Leading Media Asahi Shimbun Raises Subscription Fees for the First Time in 28 Years Due to Financial Difficulties

Other Newspapers Likely to Raise Subscription Fees as Well

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Asahi Shimbun, one of Japan's major media outlets, is raising its subscription fees for the first time in 28 years due to financial difficulties.

On the 10th, Asahi Shimbun announced that the monthly subscription fee for a set of morning and evening editions will increase to 4,400 yen (approximately 44,800 KRW, including consumption tax) starting next month, which is about a 9% increase.

The monthly subscription fee for the morning edition alone will rise by 13.2% to 3,500 yen (approximately 36,000 KRW).

The single-issue price will increase from 150 yen to 160 yen (about 1,630 KRW) for the morning edition, and from 50 yen to 60 yen (about 610 KRW) for the evening edition.

Excluding the consumption tax increase, this is the first actual subscription fee hike by Asahi Shimbun in 27 years and 7 months since December 1993.

Asahi Shimbun explained the reason for the subscription fee increase, stating, "The spread of the internet has made the newspaper business environment difficult, and sales and advertising revenue have decreased. On the other hand, production costs have increased, and due to a severe labor shortage, it has become difficult to maintain the delivery system."

Asahi added, "The entire newspaper industry is facing difficult circumstances, and many newspapers nationwide are adjusting their subscription fees. Long-term efforts to improve management have reached their limits, making it unavoidable to request a subscription fee increase."

It further promised, "In a world where fake news is rampant on the internet, we believe the role of newspapers is growing. We will keep in mind the mission of a news organization to accurately inform the facts and provide more substantial content and services."

With Asahi Shimbun deciding to raise subscription fees among Japan's major daily newspapers, other newspapers are also expected to follow suit.

However, there are concerns that the subscription fee increase may lead to cancellations, making it unclear whether this will be an effective management improvement measure.

Asahi Shimbun's daily circulation, which was about 8.2 million copies in December 1993 when it last raised subscription fees, fell below 5 million copies as of August this year.

Last year, due to the impact of COVID-19, advertising revenue sharply declined, resulting in a net loss of 44.1 billion yen (approximately 450 billion KRW) for the fiscal year ending March 2021 (April 2020 to March 2021), the largest deficit since the company's founding in 1879.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.