Time Inc. Reaches Deal With Apple

[Phillip Swanson]

The ongoing battle between magazine publishers and Apple made some headway today with the announcement Time Inc. and Apple have reached a deal allowing current print-magazine subscribers to access iPad editions as part of their subscription.

Sports Illustrated and Fortune's print-subscribers can now view the iPad editions of their subscriptions. Time Magazine subscribers were already allowed the luxury in a previous agreement. Before this deal readers were required to pay for iPad editions of the magazines regardless of their subscription status. However, despite this progress, Publishers still are not able to provide iPad only subscription plans. This means users who do not have a print-subscriptions to these magazines must pay per issue to view them on their iPad.

The standoff between publishers and Apple, in regards to selling iPad subscriptions, stems from Apple's resistance to share information with publishers about their iPad customers according to the Wall Street Journal. This is paramount to many publishers' plan to employ the "TV Everywhere" model to magazines that cable companies have employed in response to Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming services. The response itself is still incredibly outdated and benefits the cable companies and publishers rather than the consumer.

Still, selling iPad edition magazines one issue at a time goes against the long engrained business models of subscriptions that publishers have employed for years to ensure predictable quarterly and yearly profits. Apple and the publishers will likely figure something out, but the battle between the Pulpit (Apple) and the Preachers (publishers) wont end without concessions by one side. The question then becomes who is more important: the content creators or the content providers?

Source: The Wall Street Journal

[Joemamafoo]

Cool

[mrrippey]

I dont understand why other publishers do not do the same. Hopefully Car and Driver, Money, Maxim and the lie will follow suit and maybe we can safe a few trees....and wifey will be happy with less mess....

Rippey

[Mes]

...The standoff between publishers and Apple, stems from Apple's resistance to share information with publishers about their iPad customers...

Apple rules... and in the end, we the consumer will pay more.

Few realize how much advertising contributes to the bottom like. Without that money stream (or in this case .... the $$ going to Apple and no access to the user), subscription prices must rise. Count on it.

I draw the line when my ISP wants a piece of the action !!!

[imobplayer]

There was a time not too long ago that the content creators would've won the battle, and while i must admit the publications mentioned above are some of the few still creating original content, most of todays popular publications are little more than glossy toilet roll smearing sh** all over the place. Methinks the content providers will win this one.

[mortopher]

I dont understand why other publishers do not do the same. Hopefully Car and Driver, Money, Maxim and the lie will follow suit and maybe we can safe a few trees....and wifey will be happy with less mess....

Rippey

Car and Driver doesn't yet (as of about two weeks ago at least) charge for their issues on the iPad. I've got 6 or 7 issues on mine that were free.

[Jahooba]

Apple takes 30% of everything that goes through an app. If I were a content-creator I would hold off on contractually joining the digital distribution revolution until a better deal came along.