News Corp rolled out "the Daily" yesterday. It' a digital daily newspaper, an app available (at least for now) for the iPad only.
News Corp Chairman Rupert Murdoch says, "Our aim is for the Daily to be the indispensable source for news, information and entertainment."
What it won't be, is free. It will cost you 99 cents a week or $39.99 per year. There is a two week free-trial.
As iPad early adapters at our house we're intrigued and lwe'll will check it out for the free trial. We stopped getting a real newspaper when the Rocky Mountain News (RIP) ceased publication. We get much of our news online with apps from USA TODAY, MSNBC, CNNfn and Bloomberg-- just to name a few. All are....free. Content is updated all the time with fresh news about everything we're interested in.
The challenge for any online news outlet is generating revenue. The very same people who thought nothing of paying for a print subscription, shudder at the thought of paying for the same thing online.
Rob Pegoraro writing in the Washington Post does a nice job (especially because the Post is a competitor) pointing out the strengths and weaknesses of the Daily.
I haven't tried it yet so I'll refrain from any comment other than coming back to the question is whether we at our house, or you at yours, will be willing to pay for it?
Ultimately, like everything else in the news business, it will be the value of the content that will either driver consumers to, or away from the Daily. Value, like perception, is an individual reality for each consumer. The "Reality Check" will come after the two-week free subscription.
Brian Olson
Conversation Starters Public Relations
"We start the conversation about you"
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