At its core, ARPU is simply total revenue divided by the total number of users. The question is what to include in revenue. The number typically will include: First-time buyers or subscribers who pay an upfront fee Recurring revenue such as monthly payments Upsells, through purchases of premium products Cross-sells, or purchases of products from others in revenue-sharing deals This works for some companies such as Comcast, which makes its money through basic subscriptions, premium subscriptions, and streaming purchases. Many media companies, however, have very different revenue streams. The bulk of their revenue is derived from advertising. They may have insignificant or no basic subscription fees, though they may make money from premium levels of service or revenue-sharing deals. All of these would be included in their ARPU figures.