Think Digitally, Act Locally: The Increasing Benefits Of Digital Revenue For Local Media

I recently wrote about the confidence that more than half of editors, CEOs, and digital executives have about the business of journalism in 2025.

Helping point to where that confidence is coming from is a separate, recent survey of thousands of North American local media outlets, which found that nearly half (44.8%) saw an increase in total digital revenue from the year before, and more than two-thirds (67.9%) are increasing their digital revenue budget for the year ahead.

“Based on insights from our annual survey, the Local Media Consortium is forecasting an increase in 2025 digital revenue led by an uptick in consumer and advertising revenue associated with the continued maturation of video-focused efforts, subscriptions, and newsletter engagement strategies,” says Fran Wills, Local Media Consortium CEO.

Of 2024’s successes, most of those surveyed said video / OTT/ CTV, followed by digital subscriptions and email / newsletters, which saw “a 279% YOY increase in respondents reporting it as their leading success,” according to the LMC press release. “Advertising declines” was the top challenge, with advertising monetization ranking as the second-highest priority for local media behind audience engagement and growth.

The survey found that advertising was used as a digital revenue stream by 94%, followed by newsletters (77%), social media (63%), and subscriptions (57%).

(Source: Local Media Consortium)

As for the top tech trend on everyone’s mind and the confirmed top 2025 trend for local media (as chosen by 66% of local media) AI and its use for operations are seeing increased importance, with more local media planning to use AI this year for the top five use-cases than were even expected last year. Those top five use-cases are content (such as headlines and SEO), operations (such as process improvement and to streamline tasks), advertising collateral, creative (such as ad copy and storyboards), and data parsing (including government records and meeting summaries).

“Local media has an opportunity to leverage AI to their benefit,” Wills says. “AI can’t create local news, so we anticipate a heightened need for journalists to report on and validate local news, creating an opportunity for a more balanced value exchange with tech platforms.”