Come Thursday, Time magazine subscribers will pay once, and get access to three channels Time magazine publishes on: print, Web and tablet. The subscription strategy change follows similar moves by Time's sister publications, Sports Illustrated and People, in the last year.
Also on Thursday, Time will erect a paywall, which will make the formerly almost-free website inaccessible to non-subscribers. Weekly magazines will be made available for free three months past the publication date.
Time has gone around the iTunes Store, and will sell iPad Apps through their own website. Prospective subscribers will order bundled subscriptions on Time.com, which allow the company to retain 100 percent of the subscription revenue as well as the reader data. Under the Apple App Store plan, Apple takes 30 percent of the subscription price and some or all of the subscriber data. Time's apps also are available for Android devices, such as HP and Samsung Galaxy, which have no such rules.
The move is following a trend among publishers to monetise their digital content, particularly online and on tablets. According to a recent Online Publishers Association study, two-thirds of U.S. publishers either charge or expect to charge for apps in the next year.
Image: Time Warner
No comments:
Post a Comment