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Report: Apple Expected to Announce Newspaper Subscription Service

Sep 15, 2010  •  Post A Comment

"Apple is expected to announce soon a new subscription plan for newspapers, which hope tablets like the iPad will eventually provide a new source of profit as media companies struggle with declining print circulation and advertising revenue."

So says MercuryNews.com.

The service could be lucrative for Apple as well. The article says that "Apple probably will take a 30 percent cut of all subscriptions sold through the company’s online App Store, and as much as 40 percent of the advertising revenue from publications’ apps."

The article concludes, "While newspapers are anxious to get subscriber-based content onto tablets, there is some concern readers could drop print editions for app versions too quickly. ‘Most publishers don’t want to see a rapid migration to apps without a comparable growth in advertisement revenue from tablet editions,’ [said Roger Fidler, head of digital publishing at the Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute in Columbia, Mo.].’That would be disastrous.’ "

3 Comments

  1. People are not going to pay for what they get free. Business people who can charge the expense may buy a subscription, but that won’t replace all of the home delivery. The next generation uses the web and doesn’t pay for subscriptions. I always wonder if anyone in NY and Hollywood actually read any of the research that they are paying for.

  2. Thanks.

  3. I agree.

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