Nexstar has launched "The Hill Insider", a new paid subscription tier for its Washington-based political news outlet The Hill, marking the company's first-ever subscription product. Going live on Wednesday, the service offers premium newsletters, live interactive video calls with journalists and deeper reporting, and represents a bid to build broader financial support for the publication, which Comscore ranks as the most-visited political news site in the United States.

The service comes in two tiers: a basic membership at $5.99 a month or $59.99 a year, and a premium membership at $9.99 a month or $99.99 a year that adds VIP access to live events and ad-free browsing, with a 14-day free trial for new subscribers. Bill Sammon, senior vice-president of editorial content, stressed that none of The Hill's regular free content will be placed behind a paywall and that around 95% of its audience is national, beyond the Washington Beltway. Insider content includes newsletters such as "The Gavel" and "Whole Hog Politics", deep-dive stories, video podcasts and programming drawing on Decision Desk HQ polling experts.