Time Inc. Dives Deeper Into iPad Revolution

Time Inc. revealed it would develop iPad apps for seven more of its brands this year, including a series of paid apps from lifestyle magazine Real Simple. Speaking May 27 during a Time Warner investor day, Time Inc. chairman and CEO Ann Moore provided some of the first details on them. The Real Simple app will launch under the banner “No Time To...” and offer solutions to cooking, cleaning and beauty problems, in keeping with the print magazine’s brand proposition, said Paul Greenberg, president of digital for Time Inc.’s Lifestyle Group. They’ll cost $4.99 each and roll out beginning in the fourth quarter, simultaneously on the iPhone, iPad and Google’s Android devices. The Real Simple app will follow iPad apps Time Inc. has already launched for its Time and Entertainment Weekly magazines. There are skeptics who question the business benefit e-readers will bring magazines, despite the hope that they’ll help the industry offset its advertising declines and capture circulation revenue. Moore spared no enthusiasm for the Apple device and the anticipated wave of other e-readers, pronouncing them a “game changer” for magazines with their ability to charge consumers for content.“It’ll be the opportunity Time Inc. is waiting for,” she said. Time’s app is sold at the same per-issue price as its print edition, and Moore said that in March, the magazine doubled its price on the Amazon Kindle, “with virtually no impact.” Many customers on Apple’s iTunes store have complained about the single-copy prices of magazines’ digital editions, which Apple only allows them to sell on a per-issue basis. Moore said a subscription model for Time magazine was “coming soon.” “It’s becoming increasingly clear customers will pay for trusted, quality content,” she said. “They’re paying full freight.”

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Time Inc. Dives Deeper Into iPad Revolution

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