Extra! Extra!
Rupert Murdoch's iPad newspaper The Daily is set to become available to UK consumers this summer.
Apparently the exact availability of the iPad publication depends on when Apple's new online subscription model is rolled out in the UK and the rest of Europe, The Guardian reported.
Speaking at the Abu Dhabi Media Summit, News Corp's chief digital officer, Jon Miller, reportedly said The Daily will be available in Western Europe "not too long from now" and within Q2 at least.
Just like in America, The Daily will be sold via iTunes. Apparently several British publishers have told Apple they are not happy about it taking a 30 percent cut of the subscription fees for iPad apps sold via its iTunes store.
The Daily sold in Western Europe will reportedly have the same content as the current iPad paper sold in America, although The Guardian said a source told it there could be a UK-specific version in the pipeline, but there are no urgent plans for a UK edition.
Miller reportedly said that The Daily faces ‘a moment of truth' next week when it starts to charge for its content in the US.
The free trial for the newspaper app had been extended due to technical teething problems but now readers will have to pay up. The price has been set at 99 cents a week and $39.99 for a year's subscription.
It is thought that around 5,000 people have signed up for the year-long subscription so far, but News Corp has not confirmed the figure.
The Daily has had a relatively tough time so far and was late to launch in the US for an unspecified reason. Technical glitches then marred the first week of launch, probably stopping some users from getting the full picture of the fledgling digital news offering and resulting in the free trial period being extended.
Apparently some users experienced a very slow load time but despite this people started to buy subscriptions to the paper as soon as it went live and News Corp has reportedly said that its performance has ‘exceeded' its expectations.
It will be interesting to see how The Daily fares in the UK, where other News Corp-owned publications already have a pay wall.
Of course The Independent has not long rolled out its concise daily news offering called i, and launched a dedicated iPad app in November. Readers can get an annual subscription for £35, so it looks like The Daily will be going head-to-head with this already (just) established news offering.
