Apple Urging Major Newspapers to Join Texture Subscription Service

[zorinlynx]

One thing I really hope with the AirPods is that they make a larger size.

People with big cavernous ears like myself can't wear them because they fall out if we move around too much, or eat, while wearing them.

A slightly bigger size would be awesome and I could finally buy (and keep) a pair.

 

[ipponrg]

Volume.

The problem with "volume" is profit for these major newspapers. Again if you did the math, let's say Apple charges the $10 per month. I guarantee you that major newspapers will see far less than $10 per month added to their revenue. Remember that Apple has to pay other newspapers and magazine sources from that $10 per month bucket.

The more I think about it, the less I understand how Apple thinks this will benefit major newspapers like the New York Times or the Washington Post.

 

[cmaier]

The problem with "volume" is profit for these major newspapers. Again if you did the math, let's say Apple charges the $10 per month. I guarantee you that major newspapers will see far less than $10 per month added to their revenue. Remember that Apple has to pay other newspapers and magazine sources from that $10 per month bucket.

The more I think about it, the less I understand how Apple thinks this will benefit major newspapers like the New York Times or the Washington Post.

If people aren’t willing to pay the times 10 per month, they still can get a quarter or something from Apple for each subscriber to apples plan. Even if they lose some paid subscribers they make up the difference by getting money from people who wouldn’t ever have subscribed in the first place. And the times can still charge for recipes, the crossword, etc, like they do now.

 

[ipponrg]

Getting pennies from tens of millions of people immediately (and potentially billions, in the future) & staying relevant and open is MUCH better than receiving $10 from thousands, & eventually shutting your doors due to dwindling readership.

It's doubtful that major newspaper sites will receive $10 each per month. The risk for major newspapers is betting on the total amount of subs @ a fraction of the $10 will amount to more than their flat 100% revenue from their current sub.

 

[hagar]

You may be on the wrong thread. This is about a potential subscription service. iBooks is about purchasing single items, so you are talking about two different categories.

Nope, I mean Apple tried to get its share of the book business and failed. Not only were they found guilty of making pricing arrangements, they also failed in delivering an appealing product. iBooks in iOS and Mac can hardly be called a huge success. So I'm not convinced this new service will be a success out of the gate.

 

[ipponrg]

If people aren’t willing to pay the times 10 per month, they still can get a quarter or something from Apple for each subscriber to apples plan. Even if they lose some paid subscribers they make up the difference by getting money from people who wouldn’t ever have subscribed in the first place. And the times can still charge for recipes, the crossword, etc, like they do now.

So assuming they go from $10 per month to a 25 cents per month. As of 2017, the NYT speculatively has 3,000,000 ($45M in revenue) subscribers. Apple Music last September speculatively had 30,000,000 subscribers. Texture according to earlier reports has "hundreds of thousands". Assuming they package this, NYT could receive ~$7.5M in revenue from subscriptions. I just don't see this as a smart move for the major newspapers like the NYT when you do the math.

 

[LizKat]

Nope, I mean Apple tried to get its share of the book business and failed. Not only were they found guilty of making pricing arrangements, they also failed in delivering an appealing product. iBooks in iOS and Mac can hardly be called a huge success. So I'm not convinced this new service will be a success out of the gate.

Using iBooks or the Kindle reader app hardly makes a difference on a laptop, certainly. I realize the thread's not about iBooks but I'd just say the value added for me is being able to stash all my pdfs of more than lingering interest right along w/ books on the same topics or subtopics of my personalized "collections"... so to me it's worth paying the buck or two more per book when I buy a full priced book from iBooks store.

On the Texture service, I can see this succeeding if enough people grow to appreciate the off-front-page off-politics off-business categories of info provided by the mainstream papers like the Times and the WaPo. Maybe one can get by on "straight news" off Reuters or the AP etc but when it comes to in depth on other parts of our lives also covered by papers, those papers of record are worth the sub fee but the main problem is who the heck can afford to sub to all of them. So Texture might fit the bill for people who read broadly but aren't made of $$$.

 

[wayoutwest5505]

Good idea, most people stand in the Market, thumb through magazines while wife shops. I'd rather thumb through my iPhone to access 200 magazines. Not interested in Newspapers at all. Wish someone who believes in Liberty would buy a Big Newspaper Co.. TwStudios

 

[Peperino]

Article Link: Apple Urging Major Newspapers to Join Texture Subscription Service[/QUOTE]

Rumors have previously suggested that Apple is aiming to create an all-in-one subscription service that would offer access to digital magazines and news, Apple Music, and original television content, and adding newspaper content to Texture could be the first step towards that goal.

All in one subscription, that Apple makes money out of everybodys' content, while all the publishers, music composers, and media owners get screwed.

 

[Ghost31]

Eddy Cue is on it so you know that this will be the next big hit for Apple.

/s

 

[fhopper]

If Texture costs $10 a month and NYT costs $15 a month, why would NYT give up $5 a month to be on Texture?

I am not sure the agenda of the NYT has much to do with money.

 

[EdT]

If people aren’t willing to pay the times 10 per month, they still can get a quarter or something from Apple for each subscriber to apples plan. Even if they lose some paid subscribers they make up the difference by getting money from people who wouldn’t ever have subscribed in the first place. And the times can still charge for recipes, the crossword, etc, like they do now.

Maybe. I'm not sure that enough people would subscribe to any congregate news service to make it profitable for any of the content providers. Apple's iPhone sales are worldwide, and a lot of people buying iPhones and using apps either don't speak English, don't care about US politics, or both. You would need to get a very high percentage of US owners to subscribe for a newspaper or magazine to make very much money at all, and that's probably only if they don't lose subscribers that they currently have, if they are already have an online subscription service.

 

[cmaier]

Maybe. I'm not sure that enough people would subscribe to any congregate news service to make it profitable for any of the content providers. Apple's iPhone sales are worldwide, and a lot of people buying iPhones and using apps either don't speak English, don't care about US politics, or both. You would need to get a very high percentage of US owners to subscribe for a newspaper or magazine to make very much money at all, and that's probably only if they don't lose subscribers that they currently have, if they are already have an online subscription service.

If, as reported, Apple offers one service that includes Apple Music, iCloud, Apple TV, and this periodical service, there will be many many millions of subscribers. If the NYT can get a cut of each subscription fee, they’ll take it.

 

[Abazigal]

Maybe. I'm not sure that enough people would subscribe to any congregate news service to make it profitable for any of the content providers. Apple's iPhone sales are worldwide, and a lot of people buying iPhones and using apps either don't speak English, don't care about US politics, or both. You would need to get a very high percentage of US owners to subscribe for a newspaper or magazine to make very much money at all, and that's probably only if they don't lose subscribers that they currently have, if they are already have an online subscription service.

My guess is that this would work like Spotify. The news companies would get paid based on how many people read their articles. It’s not going to work like newsstand where you purchase issues wholesale.

 

[EdT]

My guess is that this would work like Spotify. The news companies would get paid based on how many people read their articles. It’s not going to work like newsstand where you purchase issues wholesale.

If people can, in effect, opt out by not clicking on a newspaper’s article then the benefits to that news source goes way way down. People historically have always been willing to pay more for entertainment than they have for information. User cmaier in the post above yours suggests a way it might work by bringing in music and videos into the same service. thereby increasing the number into the 10’s or even hundreds of millions But if payment is directly tied to number of clicks that news service gets then that may be “fair” but it probably won’t be profitable for most new sites.

 

[Justanotherfanboy]

It's doubtful that major newspaper sites will receive $10 each per month. The risk for major newspapers is betting on the total amount of subs @ a fraction of the $10 will amount to more than their flat 100% revenue from their current sub.

I was using $10 as their current sub, for their thousands of subscribers (dwindling), versus pennies for millions (potentially 1 billion+, eventually).

 

[Abazigal]

If people can, in effect, opt out by not clicking on a newspaper’s article then the benefits to that news source goes way way down. People historically have always been willing to pay more for entertainment than they have for information. User cmaier in the post above yours suggests a way it might work by bringing in music and videos into the same service. thereby increasing the number into the 10’s or even hundreds of millions But if payment is directly tied to number of clicks that news service gets then that may be “fair” but it probably won’t be profitable for most new sites.

Well, we do have news of how some music albums are getting more listens on Apple Music compared to Spotify.

If Apple can demonstrate how they can effect greater engagement rates on their platform, that could offset the smaller user base. Not to mention that this news service will likely be available on android as well (similar to Apple Music).

Never underestimate the power of the default, preinstalled app.

 

[MacBH928]

I really find it hard that people still read monthly magazines in the age of news updated by the second, they even pay for it. Its like console memory cards, there was a time for it, but in the modern age built in HDD and cloud storage killed it.

 

[Abazigal]

I really find it hard that people still read monthly magazines in the age of news updated by the second, they even pay for it. Its like console memory cards, there was a time for it, but in the modern age built in HDD and cloud storage killed it.

That's why I feel a Spotify model will be more relevant than a monthly newspaper subscription. I am not going to read every article published by a news or magazine outlet, so it makes more sense to let me pick and choose the articles I wish to read, ala-carte.

My guess is the news app will remain free with ad support, plus an option to subscribe to remove the ads and maybe even access certain types of premium content.

 

[Rychiar]

in the age of the internet is all of this stuff not dead? I completely forgot this app even existed if I ever knew

 

[Tech198]

Apple needs to learn all businesses have a right to do business just like Apple with "no peer pressure" to join them.

When a company has "all the bells and whistles", they have to think differently.

 

[AcanadiAN]

This wouldn’t apply to you. The content is in English, not Russian.
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What’s the competition? Is there another “all you can eat for a fixed monthly fee” periodical service?

Press Reader. It has an eclectic collection of international magazines and newspapers. I cancelled after a few months realizing I really don't speak German. The novelty of reading Italian Wired also wore off quickly. That being said, if I wasn't poor and was retired... US$30 a month.