Apple’s latest venture, Apple News Plus, widely known as “Netflix for news” is being shunned by major U.S. news publishers, according to news reports.
Using this service, nearly 1 billion iPhone users can access hundreds of magazines and a few newspapers with a subscription fee of $10-a-month, appealing to many who read online and wants to sample lots of the latest newspapers and magazines.
The service features three newspapers, Toronto Star, Los Angeles Times and The Wall Street Journal among more than 300 magazines, including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair and Vogue. Media companies see this as an opportunity to reach consumers who would otherwise not subscribe.
However, newspaper publishers remain hesitant to participate even while struggling to adapt to readers’ shift online and the abundant exposure of free web articles.
Apple is said to split the revenue with the publishers, the exact breakup not declared though. Nonetheless, it is reported that the share depends on the readers’ time spent on the articles.
While some media companies are highlighted in technology platforms like Facebook, many others wish to build their own sites and directly interact with their customer base.Circulation declines, layoffs and sold offs have pushed several publishers to formulate news for social media service, only to find news being deemphasized and filtered according to users’ tastes.
Experts observe that Regional papers may follow suit of the national publications in this matter. However, industry experts are startled at the move of The Wall Street Journal to join the service. It is ironic that readers not eligible for the Wall Street Journal membership will have access to Journal stories now.
Even though Apple News Plus faces the limitation to disclose breaking news, Apple are in high hopes while they plan to launch it in the UK and Australia, after already having introduced it in the US and Canada.
