{"id":1697,"date":"2012-12-03T09:54:12","date_gmt":"2012-12-03T14:54:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/?p=1697"},"modified":"2012-12-03T09:54:12","modified_gmt":"2012-12-03T14:54:12","slug":"game-changing-a-free-future-for-mirror-record-other-papers-on-ipad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/2012\/12\/03\/game-changing-a-free-future-for-mirror-record-other-papers-on-ipad\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcGame-changing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122? A free future for Mirror, Record, other papers on iPad?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Imagine if a national newspaper dropped its cover price and went free to readers. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what UK title\u00c2\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and Scottish sibling Daily Record<\/em> are doing \u00e2\u20ac\u201d at least, on iPad.<\/p>\n

For their first iPad app, the publications have launched e-edition replicas that mimic the printed red-tops in every way, save for the \u00c2\u00a30.45 ($0.72) price.<\/p>\n

Many publishers like The Guardian<\/em> and FT<\/em>,\u00c2\u00a0for their first iPad foray, launch for free on the device, often with a big advertising sponsor, in order to build audience, only to require subscriptions a few months later. Though most newspaper websites, including on iPad, are free, the typical iPad newspaper app subscription pricepoint has settled at \u00c2\u00a39.99 per month.<\/p>\n

For the\u00c2\u00a0Mirror<\/em> and\u00c2\u00a0Record<\/em>, however, there is not yet any suggestion that the zero cover price is a temporary, audience-gathering exercise.<\/p>\n

That makes this launch interesting. In a possible future where print is replaced by tablet consumption, the\u00c2\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0and Daily Record\u00c2\u00a0<\/em>just became freesheets.\u00c2\u00a0Former\u00c2\u00a0Mirror<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0digital publisher\u00c2\u00a0Matt Kelly calls it \u00e2\u20ac\u0153game-changing\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n

remarkable move on ipad by The Daily Mirror \u00e2\u20ac\u201c totally free five days a week, then the weekend editions only available in print. Gamechanger.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u201d Matt Kelly (@mk1969) December 3, 2012<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

London\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s\u00c2\u00a0Evening Standard<\/em> has already successfully gone free in print on the city\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s streets, increasing advertisers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 exposure through heightened circulation, and recently moved back in to profit. Some industry observers believe only a free future is viable in an age where paid circulation is declining for most titles.<\/p>\n

\"Daily<\/a>In the\u00c2\u00a0Mirror<\/em> and\u00c2\u00a0Record<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcs cases, the e-edition downloads are free only on weekdays \u00e2\u20ac\u201d weekend editions still require payment.
<\/em><\/p>\n

But newspapers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 historic strength has been their financing by multiple revenue streams \u00e2\u20ac\u201d ads and cover price.\u00c2\u00a0So are the\u00c2\u00a0Mirror<\/em> and\u00c2\u00a0Record<\/em> crazy to lock themselves in to a future where no-one pays anything for them?<\/p>\n

Last year, the papers jointly circulated over 1.4 million printed copies per day, making \u00c2\u00a3256.6 million in annual circulation revenue and \u00c2\u00a3135.1 million in advertising revenue.<\/p>\n

So, in a future in which they replaced their paid, printed newspapers with free tablet editions, the publications would be losing their largest income source.<\/p>\n

Last year, they\u00c2\u00a0reached around 4.1 million readers per issue combined.\u00c2\u00a0But this secondary readership in a tablet world would certainly diminish, since few people will share their iPad in the same way they will share a low-cost printed paper. So even advertiser outlook may be diminished.<\/p>\n

Also, tablet ownership amongst the\u00c2\u00a0Mirror<\/em> and\u00c2\u00a0Record<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0reader demographics are not yet at the levels of, say,\u00c2\u00a0The Times<\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n

However, there is one big benefit that likely rides above all others for the titles \u00e2\u20ac\u201d any free downloads they do get will be added to their declining print circulation. That is because, while native-looking tablet apps don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t count toward ABC data, e-replica distribution can be pitched, by canny ad sales staff, as extra circulation.<\/p>\n

What we are likely seeing is the iPad being used to prop up circs, more than the definition of a whole new business model in its own right.<\/p>\n

All in all, this is likely a smart first move for publisher Trinity Mirror to gently build up a tablet audience and stabilise its declining print base. When readers open the app \u00e2\u20ac\u201d which, by virtue of being a replica, was likely cheap to build and which requires zooming to read text easily \u00e2\u20ac\u201d they are asked by Apple to share their name, email address and post code with the publisher.<\/p>\n

That information can be used to target future promotions \u00e2\u20ac\u201d perhaps future subscription invitations?<\/p>\n

Many a publisher tweaks its tablet and mobile business model along the way, and I would be surprised if\u00c2\u00a0Daily Mirror<\/em> and\u00c2\u00a0Daily Record<\/em> are yet committing themselves to a free future forever.<\/p>\n

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    via paidContent http:\/\/paidcontent.org\/2012\/12\/03\/game-changing-a-free-future-for-mirror-record-other-papers-on-ipad\/<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Imagine if a national newspaper dropped its cover price and went free to readers. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s what UK title\u00c2\u00a0Daily Mirror\u00c2\u00a0and Scottish sibling Daily Record are doing \u00e2\u20ac\u201d at least, on iPad. For their first iPad app, the publications have launched e-edition replicas that mimic the printed red-tops in every way, save for the \u00c2\u00a30.45 ($0.72) price. … <\/p>\n

    Continue reading “\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcGame-changing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122? A free future for Mirror, Record, other papers on iPad?”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[6,136,441],"class_list":["post-1697","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-google-reader","tag-ifttt","tag-paidcontent","tag-robert-andrews"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2skW4-rn","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1697"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1697\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1697"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1697"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/gabrielsnyder.com\/notes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1697"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}