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The New Yorker has sold 20,000 annual paid iPad subscriptions

by Michael Grothaus Aug 2nd 2011 at 12:00AM

The New Yorker has sold more than 20,000 annual paid iPad subscriptions since Conde Nast overhauled its iPad magazine strategy in May. 20,000 readers are now subscribed to the annual US$59.99 iPad-only edition of the quintessential news, social, and literary magazine while every week another 5,000 people buy single issues of the magazine for $4.99. While this is good news for Conde Nast, it also reflects heavily on The New Yorker as a magazine and speaks to its digital distribution strategy.

Of all Conde Nast's iPad magazines, The New Yorker has achieved the highest subscription rates by eschewing the interactive and sometimes annoying eye-candy content and navigation other digital magazines have been using in their apps. As The New York Times points out, "The New Yorker, a magazine that has always been heavy on text, took a different tack from its peers. Instead of loading its iPad app with interactive features, the magazine focused on presenting its articles in a clean, readable format." In other words, even on a device like the iPad, the content and skilled editorial decisions of a magazine seem to matter more than distracting visual flair like page curls, flips, and transitions.

Pamela Maffei McCarthy, The New Yorker's deputy editor, told The New York Times, "That was really important to us: to create an app all about reading. There are some bells and whistles, but we're very careful about that. We think about whether or not they add any value. And if they don't, out the window they go." Good advice.



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The New Yorker has sold more than 20,000 annual paid iPad subscriptions since Conde Nast overhauled its iPad magazine strategy in May....
 

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Nunya

Yawn! Oh sorry, that was me reading the New Yorker.

August 03 2011 at 10:55 AM Report abuse +1 rate up rate down Reply
Buadhai

Until I retired to Thailand I was a long time subscriber to the New Yorker print edition. Unfortunately, overseas delivery costs and then the per-issue iPad price were both prohibitive. After six years of doing without, I am most happy to be a regular New Yorker reader again.

One of many side benefits: I've never been able to read poetry. My mind wanders after the first line or two. But, with the iPad edition many poems are read aloud by the poet. For the first time in my life I'm enjoying poetry. It's great to be able to listen to the author and following along with the 'printed' poem.

August 02 2011 at 8:31 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Noah

I subscribe to the print edition for $25 a year, which gives access to all the iPad issues for free. I wonder if I'm counted in those metrics since I read the magazine primarily on the iPad. Prolly not, but it'd be interesting to know what those numbers are!

August 02 2011 at 9:26 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Foozie

That subscription level isnt exactly celebratory. Thats an annual gross of about $800,000 after Apple's 30%, which I can guarantee you does not even begin to cover the unique costs of a major publication porting 12 issues a year to the iPad, I would be surprised if ad rev for those subscriptions covered the rest...

August 02 2011 at 7:56 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Scott Lunsford

I couldn't agree more with their approach. I much prefer the magazine like experience of Zinio over the inconsistent and frustrating interactive experience that some magazines offer. After buying a single issue of Maxim and subscriptions to Wired and Popular Science, I almost gave up using the iPad to read magazines out of frustration. With every page turn, I had to learn how to intract with the page differently and the download sizes were enormous. I haven't even look at my last of Wired!

For me it's simple... Don't over over engineer/design your magazine and allow me to buy subscriptions at rates I'm a custom to. I won't pay $4 and $5 an issue and I won't continue to subscribe to a frustrating format!

August 02 2011 at 7:14 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
cartoonasaurus

1.2 million = 20,000 $59.99 yearly iPad subscriptions.
1.3 million = 5,000 $5.99 physical magazine purchases per week for 52 weeks.

So any day now the income from their iPad app will outweigh income from the actual magazine... Wow!

August 02 2011 at 3:01 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to cartoonasaurus's comment
Joe Mama

I think that 5000 is people who buy single copies of the iPad version, not the New Yorker's total physical sales.

August 02 2011 at 6:40 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Joe Mama's comment
cartoonasaurus

Ooops - thanks for the correction - I'm sure you are exactly right (it seemed awfully low, only 5,000 a week - LOL!) In that case, their app is currently selling about a 2.5 million a year and RISING. Cool.

August 02 2011 at 8:51 AM Report abuse rate up rate down
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