By Zanub Saeed
Time Inc. announced on Thursday that all 20 of its consumer magazine titles will be available for the iPad on Apple's Newsstand, with digital subscriptions available in the United States and globally.
Among the publications set to be available digitally on the iPad will be ALL YOU, Coastal Living, Cooking Light, Entertainment Weekly, ESSENCE, FORTUNE, Golf Magazine, Health, InStyle, Money, PEOPLE, People En Espanol, People StyleWatch, REAL SIMPLE, Southern Living, SPORTS ILLUSTRATED, Sports Illustrated for Kids, Sunset, This Old House, and of course TIME magazine, listed Time Inc. in a press release issued on Thursday. Those who already have a print subscription to any of the publications will be able to access the digital copies at no extra cost.
Previously only single issues of the magazine were available for purchase through Apple's Newsstand, said The New York Times in an article released Thursday.
The idea to get all the publications on the digital platform came about from Laura Lang, Chief Executive Officer of Time Inc., who previously held the position of chief executive of Digitas, a digital advertising agency. She noted that getting a deal with Apple to go digital was a top priority, said the Times.
"For a magazine or brand like People or Time, a tablet will become an increasingly important part of the experience," Ms. Lang told The New York Times. "Our goal is to offer content where our consumers want to read it."
"We are thrilled to bring our entire U.S. portfolio to Newsstand. It's an important step toward fulfilling our goal of being everywhere consumers want us to be," Lang said for the press release. "People love reading our digital magazines already on iPad and we are confident we can deliver an even greater consumer experience on Newsstand with digital subscriptions."
The move to make all their publications digital was a marketing strategy to get the magazines out to international consumers wherever there were, and whenever they wanted, said the press release.
"We think customers are going to love being able to subscribe to their favorite magazines from Time Inc. on Newsstand," Eddy Cue, Apple's senior vice president of Internet Software and Services, was quoted as stating for the press release. "Time Inc. has designed all 20 titles, including Sports Illustrated and People, to look incredible on iPad."
