IPad subscriptions could boost magazine circulation by Magdalena Rosova

The iPad gives magazine publishers a new way to boost flagging circulation of magazines and newspapers. The Audit Bureau of Circulation announced its decision to change definition of a digital magazine. The definition will be changed due to the new class of tablet-style devices. The new rules set that publishers an count paid digital subscriptions as a part of a magazine circulation if digital version has all the same editorial and advertising material as printed magazine. The decision allows publishers to design articles and photos and accommodate the digital version for Apple Inc.'s iPad. The iPad will be in sell from April 3. Before the new rule the could only cou! nt digital versions that looked exactly the same as printed magazine. But magazines need first the Audit Bureau of Circulation to approve their software application for the iPad and other devices. The bureau has already approved software for Conde Nast's Wired magazine that will be available from June. IPad versions of GQ, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Glamour will also come in future. Subscriptions on already existing e-readers, such as Amazon Inc.'s Kinde, do not count as they do not have any ads. The task for publishers is now to get readers to pay for their digital application. Few magazines and newspapers have already persuaded large numbers of people to pay for the digital version. For example, about 6,800 people downloaded the first issue of GQ's iPhone application for $2.99. The digital version meets the new rules of the Audit Bureau. The magazine's overall circulation is almost 900,000 and so the number of subscription may look insignificant. But it is just! the beginning of the process. The number of people that downl! oaded se cond issue in January more than doubled to about 15,100.

related story (sgx16778): http://technology.canoe.ca/2010/03/16/13251956-ap.html...

by Magdalena Rosova for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)

Cantell TV is the fastest growing provider of digital broadcasting coupled with telecommunications, allowing people to easily control, view, upload and share digital content through proprietary interface coupled with free phone calls. Cantell TV is committed to delivering infinite choices to your world of entertainment at the tip of your fingers.