The tech industry has been expanding into services massively in recent years. One of the big tech ideas seems to be angling towards news. Apple is launching a new subscription service for news. It’s been referred to in the media as the “Netflix for news” and Apple believes it will save traditional journalism. The smartphone maker will charge a flat monthly fee of $10 for the subscription. The service will then allow users to access an unlimited number of articles from various news outlets. It’s more like a bundled media that gives people variety at a small fee.
Apple has been trying to expand its services. The company has reported declines in device sales over the last few months and as such, services are seen as important revenue sources that could cushion the impact of slow device sales. The new subscription service is part of this strategy and it seems the smartphone giant wants to fully maximize all the returns. The company is proposing a 50% revenue sharing system with content producers who will use its platform. In other words, Apple will keep 50% of all the revenue generated through the subscription service. The rest will then be shared among publishers.
Many experts think that this is a huge premium and it may dissuade news outlets from using the platform in the first place. Besides, news subscription is not a new thing. There are a number of media outlets that already have very successful subscription services. The New York Times and the Washington Post, for example, have expressed their reservations about sharing their content with Apple. It’s not just about the price for these two media outlets. They just feel that the concept is not practical for them.
The New York Times and the Washington Post have a very huge subscriber base. They may not need help from Apple to reach more people. In addition to this, the way in which this news will be delivered is still a cause for concern. Google and Facebook already had a news service that allowed publishers to use these platforms to reach more people. On Facebook, for example, major media outlets were given special visibility on news feed. This led to a massive increase in the amount of traffic going to their websites. But Facebook has since changed its rules in favor of advertising. At the moment, genuine news sites are having a hard time getting traction on these platforms unless they pay for ads.
It’s not clear whether Apple will integrate any kind of advertising to help publishers promote their content. But for a company that wants to really increase revenues from services, it’s definitely a possibility. In addition to this, the 50% that publishers will get is not a big incentive. Many news outlets believe that they can sign up subscribers on their own without using a third-party service. But there’s no doubt that Apple has the potential to expand their reach. Whether that will be worth the 50% cut on their revenue is still unknown. But it seems the tech giant will have a hard time convincing news outlets to come on board.
