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Future publishing restructure resulting in loss of 170 UK jobs
Restructuring at magazine publisher Future will result in the a loss of over 170 jobs in the UK, the publisher reported in its half-year financial results (ending March 31, 2014). Known for gaming publications like OXM, PC Gamer, CVG and Edge, Future announced its global plans to "refocus and simplify" at the beginning of the month. Future reported an increase in its normalized UK revenues by two percent to £41.5 million ($69.4 million), which accounted for 85 percent of the group's total revenue. Its normalized U.S. revenue was down 14 percent for the half-year to £7.3 million ($12.2 million). Part of Future's plans involves the sale of the company's sport and craft properties to Immediate Media for up to £24 million ($40.1 million). The sports magazines include Procycling, Cycling Plus and Mountain Biking UK, whereas the craft publications in question include both the UK and US Mollie Makes magazines, The Knitter and Simply Knitting. [Image: Future PLC]
Newsweek to drop print edition after December 31st, gives the digital future a warm hug
It's no secret that print media is on its way out, as many regional and niche publications have had to either find a path through the digital wilderness or fold completely. We're still not used to national publications facing that ultimatum, though, which makes Newsweek's fresh decision to drop its print edition after December 31st both unusual and a bellwether. Anyone still yearning for the magazine's content after the presses stop will have to turn to the purely digital Newsweek Global or its The Daily Beast sibling, no matter how attached they are to the outlet's 80-year history with paper. The explanation for the cutoff remains a familiar story: print readership is dying on the vine and expensive to maintain, while web and tablet adoption is growing quickly enough that Newsweek believes it can make the switch without taking a long-term financial hit. Whether or not the transition works, it's evident the periodical knows its identity must be wrapped around an online presence -- figuratively, not literally.
Assassin's Creed: Forsaken novel out Dec. 3, will tell story of Connor
Ubisoft has announced a new novel set in the Assassin's Creed universe, coming about a month after Assassin's Creed 3 hits stores on October 30. Assassin's Creed: Forsaken will be written by Oliver Bowden, and will focus on "the story behind who Connor really is and how he has become a deadly killer."Sales of the Assassin's Creed novels, at around 380,000 copies, haven't come very close to the games' 38 million sales, but there's clearly an audience for the historical fiction. Assassin's Creed: Forsaken will be out for $9.99 on December 4.
Reader's Digest creative director offers tips for magazine iPad design
Robert Newman, creative director of Reader's Digest, sat down with TMG's Engage to discuss how the magazine made the digital transition to publishing on the iPad. The article offers good advice in how to take a publication digital, as well as how it could influence a print product in return. It's also great for iPad design in general, and is a great reference for those wanting to get into this field. "If there's one crucial mistake that people make on their apps it's that they don't pay enough attention to the text font and the size and the width-and how it navigates," Newman cautions the would-be iPad designer. [Via Charles Apple]
New York Times nears half-million online subscriber mark, halves free article allowance to celebrate
The New York Times just gave you more reason to consider making the jump to a paid online subscription -- beginning in April, that free article allowance will see a 50-percent cut, from 20 monthly articles to just 10. This modification comes one year after NYTimes.com launched its infamous content paywall, and following an announcement that the publisher has signed up 454,000 digital subscribers. Paying readers will receive a 12-week subscription that they can gift to anyone on the fence about swiping for access, and smartphone and tablet app users will continue to have access to the "Top News" sections for free. You'll also be able to read articles linked from other sites on the web, including your inbox, and can access five free posts a day that appear in search engine results. Completely unfettered access will range in price from $15 to $35 per month -- you'll find full details in the PR just past the break, and at the source link below.
WoW Magazine calling it quits
After just five issues, the official World of Warcraft Magazine is calling it quits. Future US has posted a notice on the website, and subscribers can either get a refund for the issues they didn't receive, or a voucher for six in-game World of Warcraft pets. Future recommends subscribers who want to keep up with the game in a dead tree format can subscribe to its PC Gamer publication, and it's possible Blizzard may try to publish something itself, though there are apparently no plans for that yet. It's kind of a shame -- the WoW Magazine did offer a lot of solid coverage about the game (and some good looks inside the workings of Blizzard's Irvine, CA campus), but the publication was also torn between its status as an official outlet and a separate press entity. Dan Amrich, the magazine's first editor-in-chief (who left even before the first issue was published, and is now working as an official Activision blogger) recently wrote about some of the troubles he had dealing with Blizzard's licensing department and their control over the magazine. When you combine that with the fact that MMO fans tend to prefer digital over analog, then apparently the whole venture just wasn't worth it. Like we said, shame.
Time Inc. aims to please advertisers and your eyes, making all mags tablet-friendly by year's end
Do you love reading Time magazine on your tablet, but wish you had the same luxury with all of its related offerings? Oh boy, do we have fantastic news for you. As it stands, select Time Inc. publications are supported on the iPad, Android Marketplace, TouchPad, and Next Issue Media's store, but now the company has announced plans to make all 21 of its mags available on tablets by the year's end. Furthermore, support for the Nook Color will be added by the end of August with digital versions of Time, Sports Illustrated, People, and Fortune. Current subscribers to the print editions won't be left out either when it all rolls out, as they'll be able to opt-in for free upgrades with digital access. The decision is apparently tied to increasing "digital reach" for advertisers, but hey, ad-support isn't totally lame. Right? Full PR just past the break.
New York Times reveals labyrinthine subscription plans, Canadian readers already hitting paywall
We knew it was coming, and now The New York Times has followed through on its promise to erect a paywall for online content, which means no more free news -- kind of. Starting today in Canada and March 28th in the US, NYTimes.com will ask visitors reading more than 20 articles per month to pay for their info fix. The new plan offers monthly subscriptions of $15 with a smartphone app, $20 with tablet app, or $35 for complete digital access -- subscribers with a physical subscription will be granted a full pass, except on e-readers. Further convoluting the pay structure, entry from sites like Twitter and Facebook won't face the same restrictions, and access via Google is set at five free visits per day. Other news sources, including The Wall Street Journal, have already started charging for online content in the face of declining ad revenue, but this is certainly one of the most elaborate systems we've seen so far. The subscription plan was unleashed in Canada today, allowing the paper to iron out any kinks before hitting the US, which means you've got just under two weeks to hit NYTimes.com completely free -- after that, prepare to be confused.
Richard Branson launching 'Project' magazine for iPad next week
Is there something in the air? Hot on the heels of Rupert Murdoch's impending The Daily newspaper for the iPad, we're getting word of a Richard Branson-funded, iPad-specific magazine dubbed Project. The magazine will cover entertainment, travel, business, design, and international culture. It's hard to tell if these two announcements are somehow related to each other, or if they imply some sort of shift in Apple's treatment of publications, but either way they do indeed seem to be happening. The full announcement of Project is due for Tuesday next week.
Apple prepping App Store subscription payments for News Corp's upcoming 'The Daily' pub?
John Gruber of Daring Fireball has synthesized some of the swirling rumors about Rupert Murdoch's latest News Corp venture: The Daily, an iPad / tablet-specific publication that will cost real US money dollars. Add in a touch of his own sources and it's a pretty interesting story, particularly when it comes to the future of publications and other "recurring" services on iOS devices. Gruber says that his sources (and he makes sure to clarify that his sources on this particular bit aren't from Apple) say Apple is brewing up a new billing option for apps to allow for subscription payments through the App Store. That sounds kind of boring, but the lack of real automated payment has held back some publishers. Right now a user has to knowingly tap an in-app purchase every time they want to continue their subscription, instead of letting that monthly payment float into the back of the consciousness where publications want it, and Apple also restricts app builders from getting their payments outside of the Apple ecosystem. Word is that there could be an Apple event within the next few weeks to announce all this, though it seems a stretch for Apple to rally the troops for just subscription payments and a new pub that flaunts them. Maybe they'll throw in a Verizon iPhone just for kicks!
WoW Magazine now shipping
Several people have told us via our feedback page that they have received theirWorld of Warcraft Official Magazine in the mail. Last month, we got to see the preview and now many subscribers already have them in hand. The WoW Magazine is a quarterly publication that is available via subscription only. U.S. subscriptions begin at $39.95 for a year and subscriptions are available to other countries at different rates. Our tipsters have described the magazine as having a graphic novel feel to them. Did you subscribe to the magazine? If so, have you received your copy? We would love to read your reviews in the comments if you have.
NYT: Big-screen Kindle coming from Amazon "as early as this week"
Go ahead and grab the salt shaker, 'cause this one's nowhere near carved in stone... or is it? A breaking report from The New York Times has it that Amazon will introduce a larger version of its Kindle e-reader "as early as this week," one that's tailored for "displaying newspapers, magazines and perhaps textbooks." If you'll recall, magazine publisher Hearst made its intentions public to produce such a device earlier this year, noting that a larger panel would be more conducive to traditional print media layouts, and thus, additional revenue from ads. The article also notes that Plastic Logic will "start making digital newspaper readers by the end of the year." Coincidentally (or not), the Wall Street Journal also published a report this evening that dug deeper into the aforementioned Hearst deal. As the story goes, a number of big-shots in the publishing industry are banding together to set their own subscription rates (rather than go through a middleman such as Amazon), and this writeup asserts that Plastic Logic's reader won't actually roll out until "early next year" (as we'd heard previously). If you're seriously able to handle yet another twist in this madness, WSJ also points out that "people familiar with the matter" have stated that Apple is "readying a device that may make it easier to read digital books and periodicals," but it's hard to say if this is simply regurgitation of unfounded rumors already going around or something entirely more legitimate. All in all, it's clear that flagging print publications are desperate for a device that caters to its layout and allows them to regulate rates -- only time will tell if there's room for two, three or possibly more of these so-called "big-screen e-readers" in the world, but this week definitely just got a whole lot more interesting.Update: Press event invite just received, it's on for Wednesday! Read - New York Times reportRead - Wall Street Journal report
