Survey: iPad Newspaper Apps Could Slash Print Subscriptions
Wasn’t the iPad supposed to save print journalism? A Reynolds Journalism Institute survey of 1,600 iPad users this fall says that more than half—58.1 percent —of print newspaper subscribers who devote about an hour a day reading news on the device are “very likely” to cancel their print subscriptions within six months. But that could change if the price of accessing their newspaper apps were higher. Still, as the NYTCo prepares to put its digital content, including its revamped iPad app, behind the metered paywall next year, and companies like Gannett debate whether to keep its USA Today app free, the study shows how far publishers might be able to go in terms of getting readers to pay more for their content.
