1. Tablets as a News
Platform
JN 325

2. Tablet Ownership : The numbers
• For the first time, a third (34%) of American adults
ages 18 and older own a tablet computer like an
iPad, Samsung Galaxy Tab, Google Nexus, or
Kindle Fire—almost twice as many as the 18%
who owned a tablet a year ago.
• Demographic groups most likely to own tablets
include:
– Those living in households earning at least $75,000
per year (56%), compared with lower income
brackets
– Adults ages 35-44 (49%), compared with younger and
older adults
– College graduates (49%), compared with adults with
lower levels of education
• Study conducted by Princeton Survey Research
Associates International from April 17 to May 19,
2013
Source: Pew Research Center Internet & American Life Project

3. What the “experts” are saying
• “Tablets are undoubtedly the future of magazines. Here’s evidence:
A study by Harrison Group showed that tablet and e-reader owners
spend 50 percent more time reading magazines than the general
population. Why? …Most tablet versions of magazines these days,
in addition to being more convenient…also give you many things
the print version can’t, and with the immediate gratification the
print version can’t. A few examples: multimedia, the opportunity to
provide immediate feedback, links to infinitely more information
about a topic on the Web, including updates to the particular story
itself. In short, a tablet magazine is interactive.”
– -Greg Zimmerman
“Why Magazines are Thriving”
Feb. 2012

4. What the “experts” are saying
“I fear the app-based tablet approach to
magazines leads straight to oblivion, at
least for individual magazine titles.
Not that tablets aren’t suited for
reading. I discover most of the articles I
read every day through my favorite iPad
apps: Zite, Flipboard, Facebook and
Twitter. These apps don’t produce any
content themselves. They’re merely
curating what’s already out there. My
dedicated magazine apps, on the other
hand, have been lost among the many
other apps on my iPad. I never read
them, even those I pay monthly
subscription fees for.”
-- Jon Lund, Chairman, Danish Online News
Association
October 6, 2013

5. THE DAILY is dead.
• Introduced by News Corp. in
February 2011 as “daily news
magazine for the iPad era”
• $.99 per week of $39.99 a year
• Problem: ONE PLATFORM isn’t
enough– iPad users are “digital
carnivores” across platforms
(tablet, smartphone, print, PCs)
• 100,000 subscribers (not
enough)
• Dec. 15, 2012 Operation ceased,
120 employees
“Unfortunately, our experience was
that we could not find a large
enough audience quickly enough
to convince us the business model
was sustainable in the long-term.”
-Rupert Murdoch, CEO NewsCorporation

6.  452 students at large SE university
surveyed in Fall 2010 and Spring
2011
 Published in Newspaper Research
Journal (Winter 2013)
 Most would use iPad to access a
newspaper
 Only 22.5% would pay $5 for such an
app (for newspaper)
 20% would pay $3 for a digital
magazine
 Older users were happier with iPad
experience than smartphone
experience
Study: Few Students
Will Pay for Tablet
Content

7. Is the iPad on the Decline?
• iPad sales dropped to 14.6 million
during April-June quarter
(compared to 17 million last year
April-June 2012)
• Apple’s market share of
smartphone market also dropped
to 14.2% (from 18.6% last year)
• Bloomberg: Global tablet
shipments slowed from previous
quarter as consumers delayed
purchases awaiting a new model
Source: Is the iPad Era Already Drawing to a Close?
Advertising Age August 19, 2013 (Simon Dumenco)

8. BOTTOMLINE: WHY this unit on tablet?
1. It’s another platform for delivering news.
2. It’s different from mobile (smartphone).
3. Few news organization have a clue how to
program for it.
4. It’s a Great example of how the “business
influence” impacts cross-media content delivery.
5. It’s a work tool that journalists (and working
professionals elsewhere) are more likely to use
than in the past.
6. Sophisticated understanding of mobile is a
MUST! (It’s not enough to be just a consumer)