#13 All-In on News Subscriptions. How Süddeutsche Zeitung Plans to Fund Journalism by 2030. Dominic Grzbielok at Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ)

Why do people really pay for news in 2025 — and what keeps them paying month after month?In this episode of Insight Shapes News by Kilkaya, host Nils Ove Håland Riise sits down with Dominic Grzbielok, Head of Paid Content s at Süddeutsche Zeitung (SZ). Dominic is a former journalist turned product leader who has spent the last 15 years living in the intersection of newsroom culture, product strategy, and subscription growth.SZ has set an ambitious north-star: fund the entire company through digital subscriptions by 2030. That goal shapes everything — from what the homepage looks like, to how paywalls work, to what metrics matter most. Dominic shares how SZ is evolving from reach-first thinking to serving loyal subscribers, why churn is the ultimate truth, and how habits — not hacks — are the real retention engine. We also dive into the most heated questions publishers face right now:Should personalization climb higher on the homepage?Do dynamic paywalls beat hard paywalls?And in a world of AI answers and LLM distribution… do we still need a homepage at all? 🎧 Topics we cover:Why people subscribe to news — and why “feeling informed” beats raw contentThe 2030 goal: going all-in on digital subscription revenueWhy revenue matters more than subscriber counts (and the danger of discount addiction)The homepage as front door and brand signal — with 3/4 of it paywalledHow SZ introduced hybrid personalization (editorial top, algorithmic modules below)What it takes to earn editorial trust in personalization: dashboards, rules, fast fixesThe single most important metricHabits that retain: newsletters, podcasts, quizzes, games, and serialized contentBundling as a retention strategy — including SZ’s winning sports bundle with KickerWhy regional mega-bundles are harder in Germany than in the NordicsDynamic paywalls: promising, but not worth the complexity yetAI distribution and licensing: partner, don’t panic — but don’t give away the brandThe future for small publishers: specialization, local dominance, and cost disciplineDominic’s biggest lesson: the best products happen when journalists, designers, and PMs build togetherIf you’re working on subscriptions, personalization, homepage strategy, or trying to navigate the AI-era business model shift — this conversation is a grounded, practical walk through what it takes to build a subscriber-first newsroom without losing your soul.