Wednesday, February 2, 2011

Apple : Murdoch: The Daily 'will make news financially viable again'

Apple : Murdoch: The Daily 'will make news financially viable again'

Murdoch: The Daily 'will make news financially viable again'

Posted: 02 Feb 2011 08:50 AM PST

The Daily, the first iPad-only newspaper, has been launched in the US today and marks a new era of profitability for news gathering, believes its creator Rupert Murdoch.

Speaking at the launch of The Daily, Murdoch looked positively enthused about his iPad-only product and the opportunities it offers, saying: "The Daily is not a legacy brand. It's not moving from print to digital, so this means that we can take chances."

Murdoch is currently targeting the projected 50 million Americans that are set to own tablets this year, and believes that this digital format will be prosperous for news media outlets.

"We can and must make the era of news gathering financial viable again," Murdoch explained.

"There's no paper, no multi-million dollar presses, no trucks – so we are passing these discounts on to the reader, by offering The Daily at just 14 cents a day."

Re-imagining news

As for the his first stab at a digital only newspaper, Murdoch believes that this is a saviour of journalism, saying: "The iPad demands that we completely re-imagine our craft.

"The magic of newspapers and great blogs lie in their serendipity and surprise, and the deft hand of their editor. The Daily will be the model for how stories are told and consumed."

But it won't just be iPad only, with Murdoch noting that it will eventually be ported on to other tablets, explaining: "As other tablets get established we will develop the technology to get on them. We expect to be on all major tablets. But we see this year and next year belonging to Apple."

There's no current UK release date for The Daily but you can bet Murdoch has a British version of the pape in the works and will want to get this out before other publishers get hold of App Store subscriptions.

Apple: subscriptions for iPad available soon for publishers

Posted: 02 Feb 2011 08:40 AM PST

Apple has insisted that the iPad subscription service being launched with The Daily from News Corp. will be available for other publishers "very soon."

Apple's vice president of internet service, Eddie Cue, was asked about the availability of the brand new subscription model and when it would be rolled out to other people who wanted to offer magazines and content for iPad.

"It's available today on The Daily, said Cue. "An announcement will be made very soon for other publications.

"We have a great relationship with publishers and thousands [of publications] are available already andsubscription is only going to help get more customers."

Welcomed, eventually

The news will be welcomed by many publishers, who are keen to have a more integrated subscription method that makes selling periodicals easier.

With The Daily being a US only publication, it will be interesting to see if the model is opened up soon enough for someone other than News Corp. to get out a subscription service for the iPad first in the UK.

In the meantime, The Daily is being given a major head start in getting subscribers, with other publishers facing a frustrating wait until they can launch their own rivals.
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