With the growing popularity of tablet PC, it seems that circulation of digital edition of newspapers and magazines are going to be boost up. Recently, Wall Street Journal, the leading business news daily in the U.S, has reached 200,000 digital subscribers who have tablet-like mobile computing devices like Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle etc.
It means Wall Street Journal (WSJ) from now can generate $41.5 million per year as it costs $3.99 for weekly subscription of its digital edition. It is a lucrative income, given that for it there is no printing or distribution cost. The interesting thing is that out of 200,000 mobile subscribers almost 150,000- accounting for 75%- subscribed for WSJ’s digital edition over the past one year, and thus, reflecting the increasing popularity of tablet PCs like Apple iPad.
Well, many things have been written about the feasibility of digital circulation of newspapers and magazines in the last 4-5 years. Many newspapers and magazines have started to focus more on digital edition than the traditional print edition. Over the last few years, newspapers and magazines have seen significant slump in print revenues and naturally they are turning to alternative ways like increasing the digital circulation.
It is true most of the newspapers and magazines, unlike Wall Street Journal, cannot charge for digital subscription, but then they can make it a profitable business through advertising revenues. The most important thing is that there is printing or distribution cost when it comes to digital publication. So, it is expected that the soaring popularity of devices like iPad or smartphone can help to increase digital circulation of newspapers and magazines, and thus, bringing a huge change in the print media in the coming years.
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