Post's Arc unveils subscriptions platform, video app

Publishers in search of a new subscriptions platform or video app have new options from The Washington Post.

The Post's Arc Publishing is now offering Arc Subscriptions, a commerce platform that "equips publishers, broadcasters, and brands with real-time capabilities designed to accelerate digital monetization and grow revenue," according to the Post.

Arc is a publishing platform the Post designed, landing its first client in the Willamette Week (Portland, Ore.) in 2015. The platform relies on tech from Amazon Web Services (AWS). Arc currently serves sites that together reach more than 750 million unique users globally, the Post says.

Going forward, the Arc team plans to add machine learning to identify which readers are more likely to subscribe and to launch a variety of ad monetization tools aimed at growing programmatic and direct sales revenue.

Arc Subscriptions manages every stage of the sales cycle, including registration, campaigns, offers, checkout and billing, says the Post. The offering is designed to integrate across nearly every type of external system, says Scot Gillespie, chief technology officer at the Post. 

New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME) is the first publisher to implement Arc Subscriptions.

"In the last few years, we've seen a dramatic shift on the web with consumers becoming increasingly willing to pay for great content. The Washington Post's digital subscriber base, which has more than tripled in the last three years and added well over a million new, exclusively digital subscribers in that time frame, is a testament to that change," said Gillespie. "We've infused Arc Subscriptions with the deep expertise and learnings we've gathered from that growth, giving publishers and other content creators a powerful platform that aligns with their business goals and allows them to capitalize on this flight to quality."

Broadcast app
In addition to Arc Subscriptions, this summer Arc Publishing launched Broadcast, a mobile app that allows journalists to stream live video to multiple sites and social platforms at the same time.

Broadcast was developed with Graham Media Group (headquartered in Chicago and operating seven sites, including KPRC in Houston and WDIV in Detroit). The app debuted at Arc Con, Arc Publishing's annual product event. The 2019 event was held June 26­-27, at Post headquarters.

Broadcast relies on AWS Media Services (Amazon) to deliver new streams on demand using cloud technology. Using the app, publishers can launch new live streams on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Twitch and Instagram as well as their own owned-and-operated websites and over-the-top (over the internet) apps. Journalists can create professional streams by adding graphics or logos to the stream from their phone.