USA TODAY (TDAY) 28th Annual Needham Growth Conference Virtual summary

Strategic priorities and transformation

• Focused on three pillars: content and audience expansion, diversified digital revenue streams, and strengthening capital structure.

• Digital audience averages 187 million monthly uniques, ranking among the top three in the U.S.

• Prioritizing engagement and monetization over pure audience growth, with emphasis on verticals like sports, entertainment, and games.

• Digital revenue expected to surpass 50% of total revenue in 2026, marking a key milestone in the print-to-digital transformation.

• Significant debt reduction since 2019, aiming for debt at or below 1x EBITDA to enable further investment.

Digital revenue growth and diversification

• Digital revenue mix is more diverse, including advertising, subscriptions, e-commerce, digital marketing solutions, and AI licensing.

• Major AI licensing deals signed with Perplexity, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon, with more expected.

• Digital-only circulation and ARPU are growing, with a focus on high-value, long-term subscribers.

• Digital advertising remains strong, with a shift of brand advertisers back to quality media platforms.

• Video and verticals like sports and entertainment are high-CPM growth drivers.

Product innovation and audience engagement

• PLAY, a new games vertical, is deepening engagement and driving registrations and subscriptions.

• Increasing engagement in PLAY could add $10 million annually if 1% more of the audience participates.

• Strategy aims to broaden engagement beyond news while leveraging brand trust.