USA TODAY (TDAY) UBS Global Media and Communications Conference 2025 summary

Strategic priorities and digital transformation

• Aims to inform and connect communities through a unique local-to-national media network, focusing on unbiased journalism and audience expansion.

• Digital audience reaches 187 million unique monthly visitors, the largest among U.S. media content creators.

• Digital revenue was 47% in Q3, expected to surpass 50% in 2026, marking a pivotal shift to a predominantly digital business.

• Monetization strategies include advertising, subscriptions, e-commerce, syndication, and AI licensing.

• LocaliQ, a $500M digital marketing business, supports small and medium businesses' growth.

AI, licensing, and content protection

• Actively signs AI licensing deals with major tech firms, including Perplexity, Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon.

• Contracts are short-term (3–24 months) to adapt to the evolving AI marketplace.

• Blocks 99% of verified AI scraping bots, with 75 million monthly attempts, mostly targeting local content.

• Sees AI as both a risk and a major monetization opportunity, especially for unique local content.

• Explores revenue sharing and archive licensing with AI companies.

Advertising and brand safety

• Digital advertising is a key growth driver, leveraging a large, high-quality audience.

• National brands are returning to publishers for higher ROI and safer environments compared to social media.

• Sports and entertainment are strong, brand-safe verticals, with sports being the second largest audience after ESPN.

• Video-first content in these verticals offers higher CPMs and greater engagement.