The New York Times reveals the price of the future subscription to Apple News, a kind of newsstand available on all the iPhone, iPad and iPod of the firm. Discussions have been in progress for several months to offer a subscription offer. This would allow the user to access the premium content of many participating sites in exchange for a single subscription. A grail for the online press all over the world, since the sector has struggled for years to move from an economic model based on advertising models to guarantee independence, so based on a direct financial contribution of readers. In France, several sites already offer subscriptions. We can of course mention the major newspapers, both the national and local press, with offers that sometimes exceed 10 euros per month, although the standard among many publishers is rather to target 5-10 dollars per month.
Apple News: a $ 10 premium monthly subscription is on the way
The problem is that the multiplicity of these offers does not really encourage the reader to subscribe. Worse, a reader who subscribes to its favorite press sites runs the risk of spending several tens of euros per month to access these premium content. As a result, major newspapers make insufficient entries with subscriptions, or at least far below their potential. And are forced to deal with other financial resources. In particular a free offer funded by advertising. This has the effect of creating a real vicious circle: the cash inflows that depend on advertising are directly calculated on the number of visitors. And so to find a balance of revenue, some titles have no alternative but to bet sometimes on news with high traffic potential, despite the criticisms that this can generate on the readership side. While promoting the risk of propagation of fake news (which are by definition content teasers with high traffic).
The giants of the net are familiar with this situation - some like Google are even directly responsible, shaping the current mode of consumption of information on the net. On the publishers' side, the idea of subscriptions shared by several competing sites is sporadically surfacing, without ever leading to any concrete realization. With one exception, all the same, the one of La Presse Libre which makes it possible to subscribe to a single place and at reduced rate to NextINpact, Mediapart, Stop on images, Economic Alternatives, Gamekult, Hors Série and Days. Or even at a reduced price, the addition can still be very salty, especially for reading enthusiasts. This is where GAFAM has a card to play. And that's why we're following Apple's ads around Apple News with great attention - like other similar initiatives when they're announced.
Apple News has an impressive fleet of devices, which can reach a maximum of readers. The service currently offers a free offer with press articles from many sites. But, says The New York Times, a premium subscription to subscriber content could be offered for just $ 10 a month. It's about the same as a Spotify or Netflix subscription. There are nevertheless some problems to solve. In particular to accept the margin that Apple would apply on these subscriptions: 50% against 30% usually for subscriptions subscribed via the applications available on the App Store. The publishers would also worry that Apple will not allow them to access certain data on their readers, which could eventually allow them to get rid of the apple firm if necessary, especially email and data addresses. billing.
