Digital Publishing Gaining Traction; Time Inc. to Offer All Titles Digitally and More
Time Inc. dares to make the first step in digitalizing all of its print titles before 2012. The magazine stalwart currently has 4 titles out of 21 circulating electronically, which includes People, Time, Sports Illustrated and Fortune, selling 600,000 thousand digital copies so far. They look forward to gradually adding others brands such as Instyle, Real Simple and Entertainment Weekly.
Time boasts over 11 million downloads of its content apps while a couple of hundred thousand of its current print subscribers –and growing –have upgraded to tablet editions as well (absolutely no cost at all). They’ve also locked in a deal with Barnes & Noble to sell digital subscriptions and single-copy issues of Fortune, People, Sports Illustrated and Time on the Nook Color, which will start before the month ends. The rest of the titles will be steadily added before the end of the year.
“Now is the time for us to make this bold commitment. In the coming year, there will clearly be many more consumers using tablets, accelerating demand for content and driving advertiser interest. We are putting ourselves in a great position to take advantage of these opportunities,” said Maurice Edelson, EVP and a member of Time Inc.’s interim management committee.
“Having our entire portfolio available on tablets will create a significant new digital reach for our advertisers.”
Time Inc. intends to distribute titles to Apple’s iPad, Android Marketplace, HP TouchPad, Nook Color through Barnes & Noble, and Next Issue Media Store. We didn’t hear any Amazon but considering that Nook was mentioned, it still shows some support to the device.
All in all, Time will offer the three subscription models; both print and digital, digital-only, and per-copy purchases. Its existing subscribers can also choose to upgrade to digital print for free.
To further highlight the gradual recognition of digital publishing, CampusBookRentals secures $20 million funding from investors Level Equity, Five Elms Capital and Cherokee & Walker. Inkling, an iPad interactive textbook publisher, raised $17 million in a series B funding the following day, with investors including Tenaya Capital, Pearson Education, Jafco Ventures and Sequoia Capital. Books are offered starts at $2.99 each through Inkling’s store. In addition, about two weeks ago, Kindle launched textbook rental on its Kindle in partnership with Chegg. It saves students 80 percent of the normal cost by renting instead of purchasing. The rental lasts for 30 days.
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