WSJ iPad subscription officially $17.29 per month -- is Murdoch insane?
So we now have the official price for the WSJ iPad app subscription: $3.99 per week with a monthly credit card charge of $17.29. For that you get subscriber-only content areas such as Business and Markets with access to a 7 day archive that can be downloaded and read at any time. It also offers personalization features and the ability to save sections and articles for later reading. And hey, it's actually a bit less than the rumored $17.99 rate. Without the subscription, the free WSJ iPad app is limited to top articles and market data. Here's the catch: a subscription to both the print and online versions of the Wall Street Journal will currently set you back just $2.69 per week (plus 2 weeks free) for a monthly bill of $11.67... eleven dollars and sixty seven cents. Granted the WSJ claims that the 80% discount is a limited time offer but these newsstand discounts are always available in some form. Greed or insanity? Either way, a pricing model like this won't save print.
Update: Fine print says, "Already a WSJ subscriber? Get full access to the iPad™ app for a limited time." That offers some hope to existing subscribers but doesn't make the prospect of subscribing any more attractive to new customers. Unless of course the whole iPad rate can be circumvented by obtaining a login ID and password via the cheaper online-only rate (currently set for $1.99/wk or $8.62/mth). Who's going to try this on Saturday?
