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Report Suggests Apple News+ Still Having Little Impact on Publisher Revenues

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Nine months ago, Apple unveiled its Apple News+ service, designed to let ?Apple News? users access over 200 magazines and some paywalled news content for a $9.99 per month fee. Apple keeps 50 percent of this fee and the remaining revenue is split among publishers based on the amount of time readers spend with each publisher's content.

applenewsplus.jpg

However, a new report by Digiday looking at the popularity of Apple News+ suggests that most publishers remain underwhelmed by the paid subscription service and so far aren't seeing the results they'd hoped for.

According to the report, the news service is having little impact on publishers' bottom lines, and although it has generated some additional revenue and enabled them to reach more international audiences, overall publisher revenues generated from Apple News+ are modest.

One publisher told Digiday that revenue was less than $20,000 a month, but the desire to keep the subscription numbers up meant it was worth renewing the contract with Apple next year.
"We're happy to be on there because it's another way to increase subscription revenue, but it's not like it's a huge boon for our business or anything like that," one magazine exec said. "It's not really relevant."
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Another publisher said they were "encouraged" by the results since joining Apple News+ and that it had helped them grow their audience outside of the U.S., but declined to say how many subscriptions they'd added because of the platform.
"I think the jury is out," said Roger Lynch, Condé Nast CEO said at Code Media in November, about Apple News+. "I think that ... the paid side of it has had some adoption and I think Apple will continue to focus on that. Whether it's good for publishers like us or not is to be determined."
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Two days after the service's launch in March, Apple reported 200,000 new subscriptions for Apple News+, but hasn't offered any more subscription numbers. One report last month suggested that Apple has struggled to attract subscribers to its news service, although the company isn't expected to dramatically change its Apple News+ strategy.

That said, Bloomberg reported in November that Apple is considering bundling Apple News+ with Apple TV+ and Apple Music, which could mean users see perceive it as offering better value for money. Have you signed up for ?Apple News?+ and do you plan to keep the subscription? Let us know in the comments.

Article Link: Report Suggests Apple News+ Still Having Little Impact on Publisher Revenues
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/12/18/apple-news-little-impact-publisher-revenues/
News consumption is not the same as it used to be. While we are going through a paradigm shift, big players like Apple, Google, etc. will throw in the offerings that they think will change things in a big way going forward. But even they are throwing darts up in the air aiming to hit the bull's eye. It is a waiting game and maybe a long drawn until we are on the other side of this tectonic shift.
 
I would imagine Apple News+ lost a lot of subscribers because the interface is poor. Magazines have two types of content: those found in the table of contents which can be accessed by tapping on them, and content which can only be found by browsing. Sure, the app looks nice, but the problems are 1) surfacing articles of interest is difficult because search and indexing are non-existent, and 2) even browsing articles is a challenge because this forces users to page through a sea of ads.

I think this design decision was purposeful, and done to appease magazines who didn’t want to lose ad revenue by making all their content easily searched AND browsed. They compromised the user experience by limiting systems that would make both browsing and searching easier, but in the end all that did was 1) make most people think there was less content than there was, and 2) make it impossible for the few who knew what else was there to quickly access that hidden content.
 
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The early posts on this article largely misunderstand what is happening about news.

Apple News is phenomenally successful. In fact, it is the largest news service in the world, with tens of millions of regular readers, probably close to a hundred million based on the time since their last update a couple of years ago. So, in terms of consuming actual news, in contrast to people saying there's nothing compelling, people couldn't be more wrong. That's the free version.

Apple News Plus isn't about news per se; it's really a magazine service. A great one at that, but it's hard for people to discover that about it unless they take a free trial and really use it. Also, since the number of people who read and subscribe to magazines has plummeted, people aren't used to even perusing them. The magic bullet for this service to take off will be figuring out a way for people to discover the great in depth individual articles that magazines have as people aren't likely to go back to a mode where they "bought" an individual magazine and went through it cover to cover. You did that because of the cost of each magazine and because you didn't have the plethora of reading options.
 
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I subscribe and enjoy it for the clean, distraction-free interface for WSJ and 5-6 magazines. But it's definitely lacking in some features to make it more enjoyable to use and easier to discover content:
  • Full Article Search - The current search feature is extremely limited.
  • Saved reading place - Many magazine articles are very long and I don't always have time to read them in one sitting. Saving my place within the article and syncing that across devices is sorely needed. This is especially needed as this app mixes up-to-date news and magazines, if I want to get an update on breaking news when I'm mid article, I then have to find my place again once I go back.
  • Single sign-on with the news source's website & app OR direct linking to Apple News for all News+ articles - If someone shares a New Yorker article with me, I should be able to open it with my News+ subscription in one click, whether that's access within newyorker.com (via Sign in with Apple?) or directly opening the article in News+.
  • Picture in Picture support for Video - I want to be able to continue watching a video while I switch to other apps, or even while I browse through different articles within Apple News. Odd that I can do this with a CBS News video on cbsnews.com, but Apple News won't let me do this with the same video.
  • Multiple Windows support on iPad - This would help with the issue of keeping a long form magazine article open, while also browsing late breaking news. Similar to above, strange that Apple doesn't support iPadOS multi-tasking features in their own app.
 
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200K is pretty low. And I’m sure the numbers plunged after launch.

It’s a tough sell. Apple did a terrible job with the app and recommendation engines, and magazines don’t sell well in the internet age.

Add to this the best content isn’t available on News+. Seems like it’s DOA.
 
Early innings of this service.

Let's be serious. Any publisher could use an extra $5/month. Most of them will be gone sooner than later.
 
With the variety of opinions and experiences people seem to be having, it feels like News+ has a bit of an identity crisis. No one knows exactly what it's supposed to be, it's not quite good enough for anyone, and because of that it's a tad more expensive than anyone would like (we can get a TV service or gaming service for $5 a month, but double that for articles and magazines?)

I am a daily reader and lover of the service, but I was fine just using the free version. I'm currently on the 3 month free trial of + they offered during the Black Friday weekend. When that is up, a tough decision will be made because of the price.

Anxious to see how the service evolves.
 
I like the service. Especially the formatting (straight pdf is a pain in a phone). It’s also a data hog and I’ve found downloading for offline to be hit or miss.
 
im2fast4u said:
News consumption is not the same as it used to be. While we are going through a paradigm shift, big players like Apple, Google, etc. will throw in the offerings that they think will change things in a big way going forward. But even they are throwing darts up in the air aiming to hit the bull's eye. It is a waiting game and maybe a long drawn until we are on the other side of this tectonic shift.
Click to expand...

Not to mention, I bet a lot of people in the US have a "news fatigue" of sorts stemming from the constant coverage of what's going on in our government. I know I've been avoiding the news almost completely, except for occasionally catching up on things as I still want to stay informed.

It's depressing and stressful and I bet most people don't want to hear about it anymore. There's a reason my Feedly is 99% tech/science sites.
 
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I signed up for the 3 month trial.

My biggest complaint is I'm having problems downloading issues. The menu says download issue, I press on it, yet nothing happens and when it does work, there's no obvious progress bar.

I'm working in a basement office, so no wifi and lousy cell coverage.
 
confirmed said:
I subscribe and enjoy it for the clean, distraction-free interface for WSJ and 5-6 magazines. But it's definitely lacking in some features to make it more enjoyable to use and easier to discover content:
  • Full Article Search - The current search feature is extremely limited.
  • Saved reading place - Many magazine articles are very long and I don't always have time to read them in one sitting. Saving my place within the article and syncing that across devices is sorely needed. This is especially needed as this app mixes up-to-date news and magazines, if I want to get an update on breaking news when I'm mid article, I then have to find my place again once I go back.
  • Single sign-on with the news source's website & app OR direct linking to Apple News for all News+ articles - If someone shares a New Yorker article with me, I should be able to open it with my News+ subscription in one click, whether that's access within newyorker.com (via Sign in with Apple?) or directly opening the article in News+.
  • Picture in Picture support for Video - I want to be able to continue watching a video while I switch to other apps, or even while I browse through different articles within Apple News. Odd that I can do this with a CBS News video on cbsnews.com, but Apple News won't let me do this with the same video.
  • Multiple Windows support on iPad - This would help with the issue of keeping a long form magazine article open, while also browsing late breaking news. Similar to above, strange that Apple doesn't support iPadOS multi-tasking features in their own app.
Click to expand...

I am using the 3-month trial currently, and I agree with your assessment.

I would add too that they need to really improve article discovery. As a subscriber, the "Today" tab should be full of quality content, not the content they get from free garbage websites.

I understand that breaking news often comes from free online content, but other content should prioritize the high quality subscription content. For example, if I mark that I like cars, give me articles from the car magazines on the service such as Car and Driver, Motortrend, Road and Track, etc. instead of AutoBlog and such. Why offer me blog posts from same random tech site instead of Wired? Why link to a political analysis piece from a free website when there is better analysis of the same topic from Newsweek or Time?
 
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Who the **** would pay $13 CAD for this service that cost more than Apple Music which is only $10 CAD!!!

You get entertainment than text you can read somewhere else or online.
 
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Compile 'em all said:
20K a month revenue for ONE publisher and they are complaining. Amazing! In some countries you make that 20K in TWO YEARS! :D
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The revenue number is meaningless in the abstract. What matters is what someone provides in exchange for that revenue, and whether other sales channels provide a better return. I doubt the New York Times would be as elated as you are over $20,000.
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Appleman3546 said:
Apple has tough competition for news...free browsers
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The majority of the content in News+ is not available for free via a browser. If you disagree, post an example.
[automerge]1576687689[/automerge]
BWhaler said:
200K is pretty low. And I’m sure the numbers plunged after launch.

It’s a tough sell. Apple did a terrible job with the app and recommendation engines, and magazines don’t sell well in the internet age.

Add to this the best content isn’t available on News+. Seems like it’s DOA.
Click to expand...

200,000 in 2 days is not "low," and there are zero facts to support your opinion that numbers "plunged" after the first 2 days.

The fact that a single publisher out of the hundreds in News+ is making $20k a month says the opposite.
 
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I enjoy using the free version for what it is, but $15 CDN (after tax) a month is just too much for a glorified magazine subscription service. I also think it could use some work in showing you what you can read and having a better layout (instead of pdfs). It just seems overpriced and under featured.
 
newyorksole said:
One problem with Apple is that they don’t advertise. There’s no commercial or advertisement for Apple Arcade, Apple News+, Today At Apple etc.

A couple of dope ad campaigns would go a long way.
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I get ads about Apple Arcade all the time, especially on YouTube. I also get ads about News+. I guess it depends on your browsing history.
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Compile 'em all said:
20K a month revenue for ONE publisher and they are complaining. Amazing! In some countries you make that 20K in TWO YEARS! :D
Click to expand...

You know that they have to pay writers, editors, staffs, utilities, taxes and a lot of other things with those 20K right?
 
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az431 said:
The revenue number is meaningless in the abstract. What matters is what someone provides in exchange for that revenue, and whether other sales channels provide a better return. I doubt the New York Times would be as elated as you are over $20,000.
[automerge]1576687462[/automerge]


The majority of the content in News+ is not available for free via a browser. If you disagree, post an example.
[automerge]1576687689[/automerge]


200,000 in 2 days is not "low," and there are zero facts to support your opinion that numbers "plunged" after the first 2 days.

The fact that a single publisher out of the hundreds in News+ is making $20k a month says the opposite.
Click to expand...

If you know how to get around paywalls... Just Google search... LOL
 
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