“We make our own business decisions,” said Guenther. “We have a board and we keep them informed, but when we get to executing on titles it’s really our call.”
With a reported 70,000 iPad users –
a number which is still growing – and a subscription base comprised of affluent, well-educated readers in the 30+ range, NIM is in a strong position to challenge existing digital newsstand operators. Rather than worrying about competing titles, it seems the company’s interest is in attracting a greater pool of advertisers – a goal a broader catalogue may help achieve.
NIM’s engagement numbers are also
promising. Guenther cites figures of an hour per week reading 11 to 14 magazines; for readers on the $14.99 premium unlimited plan (which includes weeklies such as The New Yorker and People), consumers spend 90 minutes reading per week.
“The focus [for other media industries]
is not so much on media ownership but on ‘any time, on demand access’ to a very
broad category of content at a fixed monthly price,” Guenther told Fast Company. “So the question for us was: why not magazines?”
Brazilian company Abril, one of
that country’s largest media groups, is launching its own newsstand on its new Iba platform. Launched in March 2012, Iba now offers 26 magazine titles, 30 newspapers, and more than 10,000 ebooks from more than 200 publishers.
Iba is trying to cement its place in a quickly
evolving market – Amazon and Google both opened ebook stores in December 2012. Looking to establish itself as an important player, Iba has already released reading apps for PCs, the iPad and Android. With Amazon’s Brazilian Kindle release, Kindle- enabled content is already under discussion.
The proof, of course, is in the virtual
pudding – within one month of its launch, Abril’s Iba claimed to have hit the mark of 100,000 registered users and delivered more than 1 million free publications, including books, magazines and newspapers. The