"FIPP and paywall market leaders CeleraOne have carried out a survey to gauge the global state of affairs when it comes to digital subscription offerings by leading media companies in different countries. The results gathered from 95 publishers in 11 nations – Argentina, Canada, Finland, France, Germany, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, the U.K. and the U.S. - give an important insight into how paywalls and subscribers are evolving. The benchmark report arrives at a pivotal moment in the evolution of paywall strategies. While Covid-19 has resulted in a wave of digital subscriptions as the public went looking for information about the crisis, the question is whether the post-Covid period will have the opposite effect. “We are entering an interesting period because most of the people who subscribed did so because they needed firsthand information about Covid in their local area, or just needed entertainment in times of social distancing,” says York Walterscheid, Managing Director of CeleraOne. “The question now becomes, how do you keep such a good conversion rate? Most of the publishers need to be very careful in saying: ‘My strategy worked out and I can now rest on my laurels.’ It is crucial for publishers to look at their post-Covid strategy now." (Introduction, page 4-5)