Want a subscription to both the print AND digital version of a magazine? It’ll cost you…less! The same print magazine you get each month in your mailbox is now available for browsing on your iPad, and for the convenience of having both, you’ll pay less than a simple app-only subscription. It sounds backward, but this is exactly what publishers are doing these days. The reasons why actually make some sense.
Publishers want your eyeballs. Not in the Minority Report way, but in an “impressions” sort of way. The more impressions a magazine or newspaper can deliver to an advertiser, the more those publications can charge for advertising. While subscriptions and newsstand sales bring in a part of the revenue, 90% of their income is derived from advertising. And what advertisers want more than anything is for their ads to be seen. So the thought is, with multiple ways for a consumer to see an ad in a magazine, the more impressions an ad will receive. Thus, the combination print and digital subscription price can be defrayed by publishers who are happy to get their numbers up.
Some digital versions of magazines such as Esquire and Wired give users a more interactive experience and make full use of the tablet’s functionality. Others, unfortunately, more or less cut and paste from the hard copy. In either case the seemingly backwards pricing scheme makes sense for them, even if you’d rather not have duplicates.
Tell us: with this pricing structure in place, are you more likely to buy both the print and digital version of a magazine?
PHOTO CREDIT: Virgin / Virgin.com
