PHILADELPHIA-Two of the city's leading newspapers said on Monday that they would provide
Discount the Android tablet to paid digital users is part of a new adventure plan designed to increase readers and revenue nearly a year after the publication went bankrupt.
The pilot project will be launched on the evening of August will provide about 2,000 grains, customers who buy Long
According to publisher Greg Osberg, the term subscription for the Philadelphia Inquirer or the Philadelphia Daily News.
This is the first major in the United States. S.
The media company will bundle its content with a device, and Osberg says he is also the CEO of the Philadelphia Media Network, which owns newspapers and the Philadelphia Joint website. com.
"Someone needs to move forward and stimulate the market," Osberg said . ".
"In terms of consumer acceptance, tablets will explode and we want to be in front of us and learn as early as possible.
"The plan comes as newspapers generally slide, and over the years, as readers consume more information online, newspapers have been working to reduce advertising and subscription revenue.
Industry observers are very interested in this but are skeptical.
Bill Grueskin, Dean of Academic Affairs, Graduate School of Journalism, Columbia University, wants to know what a loyal subscriber will look like after getting a device that has access to every news source in the world.
"This is not to say that this is a terrible idea.
"This is an untested story," said Grueskin, a lead author of the May report titled "The story so far: our knowledge of the digital news business.
"Former Newsweek executive Osberg has been promising online innovation since running newspapers and websites last fall.
On Monday, he said that the "Free Project" plan would turn "a local media company into a local digital media company", although there was no demo of the app at his mock press conference, device or content.
The tablet program aims to transform ideas for young professionals active in Philadelphia.
Osberg said in a later interview that it was a paid user of digital content.
Newspaper currently has 35,000 users
These digital versions pay $155 a year, he said.
The tablet will be available to those who purchase the company's four news apps: two copies of the printed version in paper, one with additional Inquirer content and the other for Philadelphiacom.
Osberg will not disclose information about tablet makers or pricing packages, which he says is still being determined.
Customers may need to buy one-or two-
He said he would subscribe to computers every year.
He told Adweek in a report released on Monday that the total cost of the company will be six digits.
While the iPad dominates the tablet market, Osberg says the company uses Android, so it doesn't have to share its app revenue and customer metrics with Apple.
However, he noted that the iPad app will soon be launched by the Inquirer.
Osberg said the tablet plan does not herald the death of printed products, but rather calls it "a way to save paid content on any platform we move forward ".
Ken Doctor, an industry analyst at Outsell Inc. , said: "The biggest question will be whether advertisers will support the tablet news app.
He also questioned whether the platform
Specific apps for IPads and android will be replaced by the next
Generate Web applications that can work on any device with a browser.
Doctors note that the Financial Times launched a Web app last month.
The Philadelphia adventure is just a small opportunity --
Industry analyst John Morton, president of Morton Research, said.
"Like most digital plans, it may bring incremental gains, not wholesale ones," Morton said . ".
"If the newspaper factor dies with thousands of cuts, they will recover with thousands of increments.
This is probably one of them.
Osberg announced on Monday that the company will launch
Technology Business Incubator
Ups started around Labor Day.
The four companies will be stationed at the newspaper headquarters and will provide free space, equipment and guidance to develop and market new media, mobile and electronic media
Business technology.
The Philadelphia Media Network, a consortium of hedge funds and creditors, bought the newspaper for $0. 139 billion at a bankruptcy auction in September.
The company has about 1,750 employees.