Exclusive: NBC News launching digital subscription

• That's a very different value proposition from the new All Access subscription product that CNN just launched, which is meant to be a "close sibling" of the network's core cable product.

Zoom in: The subscription includes access to all of NBC News' digital journalism, including content from Telemundo's Noticias news networks and NBC News' local affiliates. The new service will provide access to new newsletter content.

• The main hub for the product will be the NBC News app, although subscribers can access the content via the NBC News website on mobile and desktop.
• To start, subscribers will get access to 22 free ad-supported streaming channels, including NBC News Now, NBC Sports, Today All Day, Dateline 24/7, Sky News, Noticias Telemundo Ahora, and all of NBC News' local affiliate streaming channels, such as NBC 4 New York News, NBC10 Philadelphia News, Noticias Florida, and many more.
• They will also get access to 46 NBC News-produced podcasts, including its "Today Show" podcasts and local shows, as well as all of its hit true-crime series and "Dateline NBC" shows.
• Those who subscribe to "Dateline NBC" shows through an Apple or Spotify subscription can still access that content separately through those podcast platforms.

Between the lines: The package will also feature exclusive, subscriber-only video content and shows, including new vertical video briefings from top talent and correspondent dispatches from the field.

• Consumers can expect several new vertical video shows per day from top NBC News programs, such as "Meet the Press" and "NBC Nightly News," as well as four to six short-form vertical video updates from talent like Steve Kornacki and Kristen Welker. More talent videos will be added in the coming weeks and months.
• Access to the full versions of NBC News' linear TV shows, such as "Dateline," "Today," "Meet the Press" and "NBC Nightly News" will also be available on demand via the subscription shortly after they air.

By the numbers: The price of the new service, which will not have a distinct name, is not yet determined, but it will likely fall in the $4–$7 per month range, per Berend.

• The company's target consumer is "between the coasts," Berend says, which means NBC News isn't trying to compete with news brands such as the New York Times, Politico or Wall Street Journal.
• While Berend declined to provide subscriber goals, he believes the total addressable market for the new subscription is "pretty sizable," considering that NBC News' website reached over million 100 unique visitors in September.

How it works: Unlike CNN, which launched a metered paywall months before launching its all-access tier, NBC News doesn't plan to launch with a metered or dynamic paywall and would rather "inch our way into this," Berend says.

• Instead, the company will leverage the vast footprint from its linear and digital channels to market the new service. "I don't think you'll see us paywalling the sites anytime soon."
• Berend doesn't see the new product cannibalizing NBC News' free ad-supported business. "It's meant to be a complement," he notes.

Zoom out: News subscriptions aren't totally new to NBC News, but this is certainly the company's largest subscription endeavor.

• CNBC, which will soon be part of Versant, Comcast's publicly traded spinoff cable company, has long offered diehard fans CNBC Pro subscriptions.
• In January, NBC News' "Today" franchise launched "Start Today," a subscription wellness app.
• NBC News Group chair Cesar Conde first teased the mobile-first subscription offering in February.

The big picture: NBC's digital subscription efforts, combined with the commerce engine its built around the "Today" franchise, are meant to help diversify NBC News' revenue away from being mostly reliant on advertising and cable subscription fees.

• Other news networks are similarly eyeing such shifts through different strategies.
• In May, Axios reported that Fox News Media is projecting half a billion dollars in revenue this fiscal year for its non-cable TV businesses.

What to watch: The new subscription offering launches ahead of what NBC News expects will be a busy news year, between the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, the midterm elections and the World Cup.

• NBC has the exclusive domestic rights to air the Olympic Games, while Telemundo has exclusive Spanish-language rights to the World Cup.
• In the future, Berend says, the NBC News subscription tier may include more content from Telemundo's news division Noticias beyond its free ad-supported channels.