The news confirms that the iPad and other digital devices can reinvigorate the newspaper and magazine industry. Growth is definitely their as well as a huge appetite to consume content. "We are excited to report that we're getting a totally new audience in our tablet editions. At Popular Science the data has proven that 2.1% of the email addresses that we have for our iPad subscribers match active print subscribers while 2.7% match expired print subscribers. So that says to us that something on the order of 95% of the iPad subscribers are new to subscribing to Popular Science." Yes, the tablet helps to reach new subscribers. And more eyeballs will only grow advertising revenue. Good news for print publishers.
As print content owners have gotten more secure with digital rights management and as they finally see a profitable business model, their product cycle is springing back to life! Digital media enables a convergence of data, print with video and audio, into a very robust subscription service. It also leads to a quicker ad conversion rate from awareness to e-purchase. Exciting times lie ahead for print publishers ready to recapture their readers.
