Apple News Subscription Service Could Launch as Early as Spring 2019

[MacRumors]

Earlier this year, Apple acquired digital magazine subscription service Texture and confirmed that it will be integrated into Apple News. And in April, it was reported that Apple plans to offer a Texture-based subscription news service with unlimited access to select newspapers and magazines for a monthly price.

Texture​

Now, Bloomberg News reports that the Apple News subscription service could be introduced as early as spring 2019. As we heard back in September, Apple is said to have held talks with major newspapers such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post about joining the service.

Texture offers unlimited access to around 200 digital magazines for $9.99 per month in the United States, including People, Vogue, Rolling Stone, National Geographic, GQ, Sports Illustrated, Wired, Maxim, Men's Health, GQ, Bloomberg Businessweek, ESPN The Magazine, and Entertainment Weekly.

Apple's subscription news service is expected to be a "premium product," but the report claims that some publishing industry executives fear the service could steal some of their subscribers, especially if it is affordably priced. Apple's services chief Eddy Cue has reportedly met with some publishers to alleviate these concerns.

On the other hand, Apple News could be a lifeline for the industry. A subscription service would instantly reach hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads, providing publications with exposure that would be very hard to achieve on their own.

2019 is shaping up to be the year of Apple subscription services. Apple is widely rumored to introduce a Netflix-like streaming video service next year, with over a dozen TV shows and movies already lined up with stars such as Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, and Steve Carell -- although this one might be free.

Apple has held a special event in March in three of the past four years, so perhaps we'll hear more about these services in around three months from now.

Article Link: Apple News Subscription Service Could Launch as Early as Spring 2019

 

[theSpringZone]

No thanks.

 

[thadoggfather]

No **way**

Not paying for Tim's "curation", havent been even remotely impressed.

 

[Rogifan]

Apple's subscription news service is expected to be a "premium product,"

What does this mean?

One would assume any publisher that wants to be part of this can be, just like Apple News today. So what you see will be based on what your interests are. I hope this doesn’t mean more of Apple News will go behind a paywall.

 

[profets]

How about expanding the News app to more than a few countries given that it's launched over 3 years ago.

 

[BigHonkingDeal]

Apple's subscription news service is expected to be a "premium product,"

What does this mean?

Like Ping?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Ping

 

[iapplelove]

I don’t even use the free news Apple app..

It’s been deleted a long time ago.

 

[Solomani]

I'd rather pay a cheaper subscription fee like $4.99 for selecting maybe 10-15 (ad-free) premium channels. I don't want 200 channels. I won't have time to read them all, not even half.

Kinda like Old Cable…. no one wants to pay a $250 cable bundle bill just because you have access to 3,000 channels. It's bloaty stupid. Most people will only watch 4 or 5 channels consistently on a daily basis.

 

[Internet Enzyme]

I don’t even use the free news Apple app..

It’s been deleted a long time ago.

Lol the design of apple news is terrible like i opened the macos app and immediately quit it

 

[ksec]

Does Reading magazine, as in this subscription services, make sense on an iPhone? I could see how it works on iPad, but iPhone?

A subscription service would instantly reach hundreds of millions of iPhones and iPads, providing publications with exposure that would be very hard to achieve on their own.

That is assuming they will subscribe in the first place.......

Seriously, instead of Magazine, Music, and Video Subscription, Can Apple please make iPhone Subscription or Upgrade Programme worldwide first.

 

[ipponrg]

One would assume any publisher that wants to be part of this can be, just like Apple News today. So what you see will be based on what your interests are. I hope this doesn’t mean more of Apple News will go behind a paywall.

I am not so sure about that. Big publishers like NYT, Post, etc lose a lot of money by doing this. This benefits mostly small publishers that don’t manage their own subscriptions nor have a large reader paid subscriber base

 

[H3LL5P4WN]

I'm price-dependent curious.
[doublepost=1544626143][/doublepost]

Like Ping?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ITunes_Ping

Ping could have been awesome, if users were allowed to post (not just artists). It was entirely one-sided, much like how Connect is now.

 

[kronusdark]

I don't read enough of any single new source to merit a subscription. I will pass on this.

 

[Vjosullivan]

Yet another subscription? There isn't enough money in the world.

 

[brofkand]

All we need is more Apple curation.

 

[jeme]

I personally am a Texture subscriber and love it, it would be a win to include newspapers. I think it is a great service.

 

[SgtPepper12]

I don't know, something about the mere concept of a curated news services just strikes me as odd.

 

[riverfreak]

Does Reading magazine, as in this subscription services, make sense on an iPhone? I could see how it works on iPad, but iPhone?



That is assuming they will subscribe in the first place.......

Seriously, instead of Magazine, Music, and Video Subscription, Can Apple please make iPhone Subscription or Upgrade Programme worldwide first.

I read many magazines on an iPhone. Most magazines have decent support for reading on a mobile device. Texture isn’t one of them. It basically has PDFs of magazines, which requires lots of zooming in and out, text isn’t responsive to the viewport, etc.

 

[jmh600cbr]

my guess is apple news will launch in canada upon this coming out

 

[Mackinjosh]

That's awesome!!!!....said a lot of people who are bad with their money and even worse at using the Internet.

 

[tromboneaholic]

That's awesome!!!!....said a lot of people who are bad with their money and even worse at using the Internet.

Some of the rumored publications are behind a paywall and require a subscription to read articles online, such such as The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

If this is affordable, it might cost less than subscribing to 2 or more of the publications and simplify billing.

 

[GaryMumford]

Oh yeah, theres a News app, forgot about that!

 

[78Bandit]

I don't see the major players (WSJ, WP, NYT, The Economist, Financial Times, etc.) joining in any meaningful way.

A digital subscription to the WSJ is regularly $40 per month by itself. You can get it for a little less if you call and threaten to cancel, but nowhere near what Apple is likely to charge for their entire package.

WP is $10 per month but I get it for $4 because I'm a Prime member. Remember Jeff Bezos owns the WP. It has journalistic independence, but they do run complimentary financial deals. I doubt Jeff is going to license much content to Apple at the rates Apple is going to pay.

You just can't compare services like those with the magazines that were offered through Texture. In many cases I could get an entire year's subscription to a magazine for less than $15 and frequently for under $10. They were bleeding money and needed to do something just to stay alive.

I think unlimited access to content for some of the content creators would hurt a lot more than it helps. You will probably see a limited number of major stories that are already being distributed widely across the internet, very similar to how it is already done through the News app.

 

[rmoliv]

What good is that when most Apple customers around the world can't access Apple News...

 

[notabadname]

I already have Texture and love it. I only wish they had Scientific American in the offering.