I know the title of the post may sound a little convoluted, but bear with me, there’s method in the madness! We’ve long been talking about how social media, or even the entire internet could be the thing that kills the news industry, as they were slow to understand it and adapt and watched as droves of people went online to major blogs such as the Huffington Post. But there’s been something brewing among news media that could well change the entire industry and indeed see it move into the the 21st Century – the iPad. I’ve been thinking a lot about this ever since I saw a piece on Sky News a couple of months ago, where they were proudly showing off their new iPad app. The app made it’s way into countless features and promos throughout the day, pretty much to the point of overkill. Sky were clearly excited about it, and maybe they had reason to be.
Telegraph Investing in a new app
When Apple announced their strict terms for subscriptions via iPad apps (i.e. they kindly decided they were going to keep 30% of the revenues), the publishing industry revolted. It seemed like Apple had made something of such high potential value to publishers far less lucrative and accessible. Interestingly though, this doesn’t seem to have put publishers off what could be a valuable new revenue stream. The Telegraph Media Group announced their new iPad yesterday, which costs £9.99 per month of £1.19 per edition. While the charges for a single edition may seem quite hefty, £9.99 per month isn’t bad value and I can see this proving successful with Telegraph readers. It signals good news for the publishing industry that Telegraph have made this move, in the same week that Hearst Publishing have made 3 of their popular titles available for subscription, at the much cheaper rate of $19.99 for an entire year, per publication.
This is an interesting time for publishers, as there appears to be a split between those that are charging for app downloads and those that choose to keep them free. The fact is of course, that publishers need to make money in order to succeed, and they need to explore new monetisation models in order to do that. The move by The Telegraph is positive, and as a publisher they have always been relatively ahead of the social media curve, so the next few weeks could prove interesting in determining just how much money publishers can make from iPad apps. One thing is clear though, publishers are clearly in agreement that iPad apps are where it’s at, now they need to find the best route to monetise their activities.
Apple working with publishers
While their hefty subscription charges rightly hacked off journalists, it seems that Apple might be willing to work with publishers after all. Last week Time Inc reached an agreement with Apple to make all of their iPad apps available for free to existing print subscribers, meaning they can benefit from the potential of ad revenue while waiving the subscription fee. This seems typical Apple in that they’ve changed the rules for some almost as soon as they’ve introduced them, but the news for publishers is good nonetheless. If publishers have Apple on their side, then the iPad for news could become something very very interesting indeed. Flexibility is key to publishers succeeding on the iPad, as they work to introduce their readers to a new type of media so Apple’s accommodation here is welcome.
Journalists love their iPads
This may sound a little basic, but the fact is that I have yet to really find a journalist who isn’t in love with their iPad. Publishers live and die by their content, and their writers, and the fact that right now journalists are flocking towards the iPad points to the potential and importance of this medium to publishers. I don’t believe it’s a coincidence that the social platform that journalists use the most readily and enthusiastically - Twitter – is also what has emerged as the defacto place to consume your news content online. Journalists haven’t adopted Facebook in the same way, and we haven’t seen this really emerge as a winning platform for publishers yet. Journalists know where their readers are, they know the platforms that work for them and the fact that the iPad has penetrated media professionals in the way that it has, is encouraging for seeing this emerge as the place to engage your readers.
People are paying
The real test of how the iPad is saving the news industry of course, is whether people are actually paying for the apps on there. As a marketplace alone, it makes sense for publishers to invest in the iPad above standard mobile applications. The revenue potential of an iPad application is significant – at almost 10 times higher than that of an iPhone app, with a standard dwell time of 2.2 times longer. And publishers are starting to prove the case. Charging for its iPad app hasn’t put readers of the Wall Street Journal off, with the application generating $2.4 million in its first 4 months of circulation. Though they may have been benefiting from the shiny experience of downloading an app on your iPad, these figures are going in the right direction. The Financial Times don’t charge for their iPad app, yet revenues topped £1 million in the first 6 months through advertising.
This isn’t going to be an easy ride of course. Jemima Kiss provides an excellent analysis of how the iPad may not be the good news that publishers were expecting, with some reporting modest figures in both downloads and revenues. I strongly believe however that it’s a case of giving it time. The iPad still has a long, long way to go before it reaches the critical mass needed for it to really revolutionise the news industry, but the early signs are good. Publishers are using it, and more importantly they’re making money from it. The fact that more and more publishers are swarming to release their own iPad apps, or changing the payment options on their existing app, is an indicator of the growth in this sector. As more and gets spent on iPad apps, publishers are the ones uniquely positioned to benefit from this.
The physical experience
Where the publishing industry can benefit from the iPad in a way others can’t, is in the very physical way that people use their iPads. This isn’t necessarily something you get out on the train – your mobile will do fine for that. It’s the thing you read on a plane journey, in bed, even on a Sunday morning relaxing. And of course, the toilet. In this way it is easy for the iPad to replicate the experience of reading a newspaper, and this is something people will pay for. While people may not be willing to pay for an iPhone app to receive their content, the value comes in the shape of the iPad. Reading a newspaper is a very different experience to reading a blog, where you can typically get your content for free. Nothing will ever replace my Sunday morning paper ritual, but the iPad could. The size of the screen and the device overall lends itself to a more pleasing experience than reading off a smaller mobile screen. Publishers know the importance of replicating the reading experience, and have invested lots of time and money in trying to recreate this through their websites. The answer lies in the iPad however.
Publishers clubbing together
There has been a bit of movement lately, with publishers joining together to tackle the ‘problem’ of social media for their business. Ongo is a good example of this, who have recently launched their iPad app. Made up of major publishers including USA Today, Reuters, Financial Times & The New York Post, Ongo works as an aggregator of news content and this is a service that lends itself perfectly to the iPad. This marks an interesting shift in the way the news industry functions. There’s suddenly a real benefit in accessing your content curated for you by the publishing powerhouses, all set within the handy viewing experience of your iPad. This is not something that can be easily replicated and hints at the iPad changing the way we receive news forever.
It’s going to be an interesting few months for publishers, as they increase activity through apps and iPad editions of their newspapers. It could be one of the biggest game-changers for publishers, if they get the revenue model and content syndication right.
Possibly Related Posts:
- How social media can save newspapers
- Associated Press recognise bloggers as a news source
- The Times paywall – what really happened?
- A dotcom nation
- Thierry cheats – the web responds
