First iPad newspaper debuts

Associated Press

NEW YORK

A daily newspaper designed by News Corp. exclusively for Apple’s iPad is available for $40 annually, comparable to what some big-city publishers charge monthly to deliver their print editions.

The digital newspaper, called The Daily, debuted Wednesday in Apple Inc.’s App Store. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch unveiled it in New York after weeks of anticipation.

The Daily is the latest example of how media companies are trying to mine the iPad’s popularity for new streams of revenue. Last month, a company backed by The New York Times Co., The Washington Post Co. and USA Today publisher Gannett Co. launched Ongo, a website that, for $7 a month, pulls together stories from various outlets in one place and lays them out in a clean, ad-free format.

Newspaper publishers are especially desperate because the print- advertising revenue they traditionally have relied upon has been falling for the past four years.

News Corp. hasn’t been as hard hit as many publishers, mostly because it can fall back on revenue coming from its ownership of the Fox television network and the 20th Century Fox movie studio.

News Corp. also owns The Wall Street Journal, one of the few newspapers able to sell a large number of digital subscriptions.

The Daily will cost 99 cents per week, substantially less than the Journal’s iPad subscription rate of $3.99 per week. The Daily also is available for $39.99 annually — about the same as what the San Francisco Chronicle charges a month for home delivery and less than The New York Times’ monthly rate of about $47 in the New York City area.

Murdoch says The Daily can afford a low price because it won’t have to pay for printing presses or fuel to deliver editions.

Newspaper analyst Ken Doctor believes less than 1 percent of iPad owners are likely to subscribe to The Daily, making it difficult for the digital newspaper to make money. He said The Daily’s financial success will hinge on how much advertising revenue it can bring in, much like print editions.