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Nexstar’s “The Hill” hopes to get a bump from offering a new tier of content to hard-core subscribers.
The Washington, D.C. publication, which analyzes politics and policy for people focused on inside-the-Beltway going-ons,
is on Wednesday launching “The Hill Insider,” a new subscription tier that features access to premium newsletters, live interactive video calls with the publication’s journalists and deeper reportage that offers more detail and analysis about some of the biggest stories of the day.
The new service represents the first subscription product from Nexstar.
The new product is for Washington, D.C. denizens, says Bill Sammon, senior vice president of editorial content for “The Hill,” but also for a broad, national audience that simply wants more information about how things work in the nation’s capital. “The truth is, 95% of our audience is national, outside the Beltway. Most of our readers are spread across the fruited plain,” says Sammon, during a recent interview. “You don’t have to be in Washington to be in the game, You can be in Wichita.”
Launch of the new content tier shows Nexstar, which also operates dozens of local TV stations across the U.S., seeking broader support for “The Hill,” which has covered politics and policy since its founding in 1994. Earlier this year, business executives tied to “The Hill” made a presentation to New York media agencies in a bid to capture attention from buyers who handle some of the “advocacy” clients that often hope to reach the publication’s audience.
The new service will launch with two different subscription tiers A basic membership is priced at $5.99 per month or $59.99 annually, and includes full access to The Hill Insider content. A premium membership, priced at $9.99 per month or $99.99 annually, includes everything in Basic, plus VIP access to The Hill’s live events and an ad-free reading experience on thehill.com, with no display or video ads. First-time subscribers can join The Hill Insider for a free 14-day trial.
None of the publication’s regular content will be put behind a paywall, says Sammon. “That’s still available for everybody to read for free,” he says. The new tiers are “for the person who wants to take things to the next level,” and will include access to newsletters like “The Gavel,” which focuses on federal courts and the Supreme Court, as well as “multiple deep dive stories of the day that will be chosen in real time” and several video podcasts. Subscribers will be able to watch a new program that taps into polling experts from Decision Desk HQ, and also to watch top editors discuss the stories of the day, and see how “The Hill” determines how coverage of various issues should proceed. “Whole Hog Politics,” a newsletter led by Chris Stirewalt, will also be available.
“The Hill” has seen its reach broaden in recent months, and has been ranked as the most-visited political news site in the U.S. by Comscore. The company seeks to reach people of various political leanings, not just liberal or conservative.
