Free Tablets For Digital Inquirer Readers
The Philadelphia Inquirer's parent company says it will provide free touch screen tablets to its digital subscribers and offer deeply discounted Android tablets to consumers.
Philadelphia Media Networks made two announcements on Monday about its efforts to expand from its traditional newsprint business fully into the digital world.
The first announcement was about deeply discounted Android tablets that PMN would sell bundled with digital subscriptions to the Inquirer and Daily News.
AdWeek reported the discount Droid tablet could be sold at half price and 2,000 would be sold in the project's first stages.
Leter, Mark Block, VP of External Relations from PMN, clarified the company's current pricing plan:
"Philadelphia Media Network's tablet and the four bundled digital products (e.g. Inquirer replica Digital Edition; Daily News replica Digital Edition; Inquirer Non-Replica App and Philly.com App) are sold together at a rate of 50 percent off the cost that you would pay if you were to individually purchase those four digital products and the tablet. Specific pricing for the four bundled products and the tablet will be announced in late August when PMN will offer the comprehensive product and subscription plan offerings within the market to determine precise discounts."
The second announcement was about "free touch screen tablets" for paid digital subscribers to the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The brand or type of tablet was not disclosed.
In a statement, publisher Greg Osberg said "negotiations with a handful of tablet manufacturers are ongoing, so further details of the initiative are unavailable at the moment, although it expects to launch within the next several weeks."
“We believe this is the first time that a major media company in the United States will provide tablets to its digital subscribers,” said Osberg. “Digital subscriptions represent a growing market for PMN and we are working to provide our online subscribers with access to the same look and layout of our traditional print newspaper. This is how an increasing percentage of the population is reading the newspaper and we are meeting that demand head on.”
Newsprint costs have always been a significant cost for publishers, and while the short-term costs of subsidizing tablets for readers could be expensive, it could still save money in the long run for publishers if they can get out of the paper business.
Digital versions of both newspapers cost $2.99 a week as standalone subscriptions and they are deeply discounted when included with a newsprint subscription.