Publisher Revenue & Sustainability Committee

About the Committee

The Publisher Revenue & Sustainability Committee is IDMRB’s dedicated forum for fortifying the financial resilience of digital news publishers. The Committee brings together senior business leaders, editorial strategists and policy experts to design practical monetization pathways that preserve editorial independence while ensuring long-term commercial viability. Through evidence-based dialogue and industry-wide collaboration, the Committee aims to reduce platform dependency, diversify income streams and create sustainable business models suited to India’s diverse digital ecosystem.

Mandate & Priorities

• Design scalable revenue frameworks for publishers — balancing direct revenue (subscriptions, memberships) with programmatic and brand partnerships.
• Reduce platform concentration risk by assessing revenue-share terms and negotiating fairer commercial arrangements with intermediaries.
• Develop alternate monetization models such as premium content tiers, native branded storytelling, e-commerce integrations, events & community memberships.
• Publish practical toolkits and benchmarks — unit economics, ARPU/ARPPU references, ad yield indicators and subscription conversion metrics.
• Facilitate partnerships with solution providers — ad tech, analytics, CPM optimization and payment gateways — to uplift yield and operational efficiency.
• Promote transparency and best practices in ad operations, viewability, brand safety and audience measurement.
• Advocate policy positions that safeguard publisher revenue and ensure a level commercial playing field in discussions with platforms and regulators.

Activities & Deliverables

• Quarterly market briefings and revenue trend reports for members.
• Playbooks on subscription launches, reader revenue acceleration, and branded content governance.
• Shared procurement pilots (e.g., collective ad-ops tools, yield management services) to reduce individual vendor costs.
• Roundtables with platform representatives to push for fairer revenue arrangements and dispute resolution pathways.
• Training workshops on commercial best practices — pricing, packaging, billing, and fraud mitigation.

Governance & Structure

• Chairperson & Vice-Chairperson: Elected from among member publishers for a fixed term.
• Core Panel: Heads of Business, Revenue, Legal and Editorial Strategy from member organisations.
• Advisory Group: Independent experts from ad-tech, payments, analytics and regulatory law.
• Secretariat: IDMRB office provides coordination, research, documentation and outreach support.
• Working Groups: Time-bound taskforces formed for discrete projects — e.g., Subscription Playbook, Collective Ad Ops Pilot, Platform Negotiation Toolkit.

Why Join / Member Benefits

• Access to action-oriented revenue playbooks and real market benchmarks.
• Collective bargaining power in platform discussions and vendor negotiations.
• Shared tech and operations pilots that reduce costs and improve monetization efficiency.
• Capacity building through workshops and peer learning.
• Faster adoption of industry standards for brand safety, measurement and commerce integration.

Expected Outcomes

• Measurable uplift in publisher revenue diversification across member organisations.
• Standardized, ethical frameworks for branded content and subscription governance.
• Stronger, industry-backed policy positions to present before policymakers and platforms.
• Enhanced commercial sustainability that safeguards editorial independence.