With a major shift in digital distribution strategy, The New Yorker has soared past 20,000 annual subscriptions via their iPad app. Each subscription nets Conde Nast $59.99 per year.
It’s important to note that these figures don’t include customers that purchase the iPad only version one issue at a time for $4.99 per issue, which is reported to be somewhere around 5,000.
The New Yorker has excelled past all of Conde Nast’s iPad magazines with regard to subscription rates by finding a balance of digital and editorial focus points. The publication foregoes the flashy gimmicks that digital magazines tend to stick to like animation and transitions in exchange for clear and concise readability. After all, The New Yorker is world renowned for its editorials, and that is what keeps people loyal to the magazine.
Deputy editor for The New Yorker Pamela Maffei McCarthy is quick to point out the importance of creating a magazine app that focused on reading and what the reader gets out of the article, and less on flashy gimmicks that don’t add any value to the experience.