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Monday, July 11, 2011

Inquirer adds iPad, Android tablets

"The Philadelphia Inquirer and its sibling Philadelphia Daily News are making what may be the boldest tablet push yet," writes Ad Age here.

"On July 11, the two papers plan to announce a pilot program under which they will sell Android tablets with their content already built in at a discount. Icons on the tablets' home screen will take users to digital replicas of both newspapers as well as a separate Inquirer app and Philly.com, the papers’ online hub."

In a note to managers this morning, editor Stan Wischnowski said both Android and iPad tablets "will be tied to a big circulation initiative... a bold step at a time when we really need to be innovative." Wischnowski added this is just one of a number of platforms the Inquirer and Daily News are rolling out. 

Publisher Greg Osberg will join Mayor Nutter at Drexel University's Academy of Natural Science to talk more about the initiative in a presentation this afternoon.

For further reading on the tablet future of journalism, Wischnowski recommended:
http://rjionline.org/news/where-do-tablets-fit-your-news-organization%E2%80%99s-future#
http://www.cjr.org/the_business_of_digital_journalism/the_story_so_far_what_we_know.php

From Ad Age: "The idea of giving away or selling devices has been widely discussed in the publishing industry, but the Philadelphia experiment seems to be the most aggressive push in that direction thus far.

"Greg Osberg, CEO and publisher of the Philadelphia Media Network, the entity that includes the papers and Philly.com, believes the company is making history with the program, the cost for which he estimated will come in somewhere in six figures.

"The deal lets the Philadelphia papers keep all the revenue and the consumer data, though, which will give it a read on how people consume newspaper content on a tablet...

"The idea is for the tablet and newspaper content combined to be half off their full retail price. (Right now, the papers’ digital editions each cost $2.99 a week.)... It’s slated to kick off with 2,000 tablets in the second half of August, with a fuller launch set for later in the year. The tablets also will sell advertising e-commerce units on the home screen... Later this fall, Philly.com will introduce paid, premium content on the site, and a hyperlocal news channel."
Posted by Joseph N. DiStefano @ 10:21 AM  Permalink | 14 comments
Comments   
  • Comment removed.
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:29 AM, 07/11/2011
    Well then who should get stuck with the bill for the infrastructure needed to host this information? Who wants to research and write stories for free?

    Don't be naive. If you don't like it, don't buy it. You can read AP stories all day.
    — MD20202020
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:05 AM, 07/11/2011
    Unless I missed something, does the Philly Inq have a iPad-specific app? Not an iPhone version to be used on an iPad, but iPad-specific, a la USA Today or the NYT. Didn't see one when I searched, but that should be a priority number 1 if it's not available now. I know I could just as easily go to Philly.com, but I would pay for it if it were an option.
    — evolutionary
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:45 AM, 07/11/2011
    Philly.com has a Philly baseball app available for sale in the Apple store - check it out, we are very proud of it. We do not yet have an iPad app for the site, but we're glad to hear you might pay for it.
    — Wendy Warren
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:55 AM, 07/11/2011
    Wendy, I think many people would pay a reasonable price for an app that brought all of the Philly.com content to our phones. The problem now is that I've seen apps for Philly baseball, and apps for the Flyers, and apps for the Eagles (I think some of those are through Comcast Sportsnet and not Philly.com). While I love my local sports teams, I can't justify buying a ton of separate applications to keep me up to date on each one of them.
    — Hutch
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:32 AM, 07/11/2011
    Yes it does. And it also has Pressreader which allows downloading PDF of the Daily News and Inquirer
    — gorming
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 11:50 AM, 07/11/2011
    westphillyguy, everyone likes getting "free" information, but unless the reporters and the graphic designers and the other people involved in providing the content can feed their families, they're going to have to find another line of work.

    "Free flowing" doesn't mean there is no cost. It means you can read whatever you want without censorship or unfair restrictions. Nothing in this arrangement is going to change that. In fact, if you used the brain you were given, you would see they are selling devices (iPads and Android tablets) at a DISCOUNT. Was someone in your neighborhood giving those things away for free before?
    — Hutch
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:12 PM, 07/11/2011
    cool to see the papers embracing digital distribution. nothing wrong with paying for good content.
    — fasterthantheworld
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 12:14 PM, 07/11/2011
    The handwriting is on the wall (newsprint is on the wall). The onset on the digital age prompted a flawed business model (IMHO) where publishers gave their product away to consumers / readers with the hope of online advertising dollars supporting this format didn't work so well, and it is time to pay the piper (paper). I applaud the Inquirer and Daily News for this bold step to keep their product vital and relevant. Talking heads are fine for traffic & weather, but there is nothing like going a few paragraphs deep to understand a news item and its context...
    — TomTheCork
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:32 PM, 07/11/2011
    Cool, I wonder if there'll be updates for the pre-existing Philly.com apps for iPhone and Android. They're alright, but basic. I'd definitely like to see something innovative happen with those.
    — thegreengrass
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 1:37 PM, 07/11/2011
    Looking forward to having increased digital access to these publications! Hoping to see some improvements made to the way content is structured and organized in the redesigns of Philly.com - web and mobile version.
    — emaleigh
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 5:42 PM, 07/11/2011
    Ladies and gentlemen, note this date (7/11/11) as the beginning of the end for the Inky as a printed paper. Obviously, the entire idea here is to cut costs (no more need for printers, machinery, drivers, etc etc).
    — The Baron
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 6:59 PM, 07/11/2011
    Will the tablet apps feature the same obnoxious audio ads that force you to mute your speakers before navigating to philly.com?
    — djsaitta
  • Comment removed.


14 comments
About Joseph N. DiStefano
Joseph N. DiStefano writes this blog to feed his PhillyDeals column in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Joe has been a member of Bloomberg LP’s New York Finance Team, wrote the book “Comcasted,” taught writing at St. Joseph’s University, and studied economics and history at Penn. Reach Joe at 215-854-5194 and JoeD@phillynews.com
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