Substack subscribers held paid legacy news at nearly eight times the matched rate
Share with a paid legacy-news receipt in the trailing 12 months through mid-August 2026, matched on annual receipt activity
Share holding paid legacy news
Source: YipitData U.S. e-receipt panel. Substack subscribers n=321; activity-matched panelists n≈296,000. Legacy news includes The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Economist, Financial Times, USA TODAY, and POLITICO. Matching used 228–872 annual receipts.
Chart data
| Series | Share holding paid legacy news |
|---|---|
| Substack subscribers | 35.5% |
| Activity-matched panelists | 4.6% |
Which legacy publishers had the widest overlap with Substack subscribers?
The New York Times had the widest measured overlap: 21.8% of Substack subscribers also held it, compared with 3.2% of activity-matched panelists. The Atlantic reached 11.2% of Substack subscribers versus 0.5% of the matched group.
Established New York Times subscribers retained it more often when they also subscribed to Substack
Share of panelists with a New York Times subscription 13–24 months earlier who had a New York Times receipt in the latest six months
Share with a recent New York Times receipt
Source: YipitData U.S. e-receipt panel. The Substack and New York Times cohort included 67 panelists; the comparison group was activity-matched New York Times subscribers without Substack. Both groups used the same annual-receipt activity range. The six-month window can miss annual renewals.
Chart data
| Series | Share with a recent New York Times receipt |
|---|---|
| Also subscribed to Substack | 50.7% |
| No Substack subscription | 24.4% |
Assumptions & Methodologies
We analyzed our U.S. e-receipt panel through mid-August 2026. The 321-person cohort included consumer receipts, not creator payouts. Legacy news comprised The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Guardian, Bloomberg, The Economist, Financial Times, USA TODAY, and POLITICO. The comparison included 296,000 panelists within Substack’s 228–872 annual-receipt range. Co-holding used 12 months. Retention selected established New York Times subscribers and checked for a receipt in the latest six months; the Substack cohort had 67 panelists. Annual billing can hide renewals, and Substack receipts were captured more often through Apple; self-selection prevents causal claims.