The newspaper business is trying its best to stay relevant in a world where more and more people are getting their news via their PC, mobile phone or tablets. It"s the latter device that is going to be the center of a new venture by the Philadelphia Media Network, the owner of the city"s two major daily newspapers, The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. According to Philly.com, the company will soon begin selling discounted Android-based tablets that will contain content from the newspapers.
The tablets will contain applications that will connect users to digital versions of the newspapers, along with an app for Philly.com and a separate app that will have even more content from the Inquirer. A pilot program is scheduled to begin in August where 2,000 of these tablets will be sold followed by the full launch later this year. The tablets will also include ads that will run on the home screen. Pricing details have yet to be announced, but AdWeek.com reports that it is expected that the company will target a price that will be half that of the combined price of the tablet and the newspaper subscription price combined. There are no details on which Android-based tablet will be used in this program.
AdWeek estimates that this launch will cost the newspaper company "somewhere in six figures". However, the company will get to keep all of the revenue generated from the tablet program as well as the data needed to see how its users "consume newspaper content on a tablet."