Rogers unveils Netflix-like all-in-one digital magazine subscription service

Rogers unveils Netflix-like all-in-one digital magazine subscription service

Christine Dobby | 26/09/13 | Last Updated: 26/09/13 5:02 PM ET
More from Christine Dobby | @christinedobby

TORONTO – Rogers Communications Inc. hopes that bringing a reader-friendly digital magazine subscription service previously only available in the United States to Canada will help cement its status as this country’s “dominant publisher.” The media division of the Toronto-based communications company said Thursday it has struck a partnership with Next Issue Media, a joint-venture of five major U.S. publishers.The subscription-based app for tablet devices will give Canadian readers access to some of the biggest names in U.S. publishing, including Vanity Fair, The New Yorker, GQ, Rolling Stone and TIME.

Rogers is adding its own stable of publications to the app, and will make titles such as Maclean’s, Chatelaine and Today’s Parent available to U.S. subscribers as well.

“It can’t be duplicated, it’s exclusive, and it makes us unequivocally the dominant publisher in Canada,” Keith Pelley, president of Rogers Media, said in an interview.

The service aims to draw readers away from free Web content by packaging dozens of popular titles together in a user-friendly interface.

“The migration to digital is happening,” Mr. Pelley said. “I do believe there will always be people who want to read the hard copy of magazines, but it will decline over time.”

The Next Issue platform bills itself as the Netflix of digital magazine subscriptions, giving readers unlimited access — on their iPads or other tablet devices — to about 100 magazines for one flat monthly price: $9.99 for monthly magazines and $14.99 per month to include weeklies.

For avid magazine readers, the all-in bundle can be cheaper than subscribing to a host of favourites individually, even though tablet subscriptions are less expensive than what you would pay for a physical copy at the newsstand.

For example, a one month tablet subscription to the New Yorker is $5.99 and a digital subscription to People is $2.09 an issue. Both magazines publish weekly.

The consortium behind Next Issue — Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, NewsCorp and Time Inc. — came together in 2009 and launched its all-you-can read app for Android tablets in March 2012, later adding an app for Apple Inc.’s iPad.

It represented a cease-fire of sorts as rival publishers pooled their resources to try to hold on to digital readers often drawn away by ubiquitous free content on the Web.

Mr. Pelley said Rogers “invested significantly” to become an equity partner in the Next Issue Media venture, although it did not disclose financial terms.

Rogers will add its Canadian magazine titles to the mix starting Oct. 15, offering early access for Rogers wireless and cable customers for a two-month free trial.

The service will be available to all Canadians on iPad, Android tablets and Windows 8 devices starting Dec. 15. Rogers is offering the first month for free. It plans to make the service available on smartphone apps by the end of the year but has no plans to offer it on the BlackBerry platform, Mr. Pelley said.

Rogers also announced Thursday that Ken Whyte will be president of Next Issue Canada.

Mr. Whyte, the founding editor of the National Post, is currently president of Rogers Publishing Ltd., a position the company will look to fill, Mr. Pelley said, adding that in the interim he himself will spend more time on publishing matters.

Rogers Media is one of Canada’s largest publishers of general interest magazines. While all 13 of its major French and English consumer titles are available as tablet-only subscriptions (along with many of its trade publications), as with the U.S. publications, their individual prices are much higher than the Next Issue package.

For example, Rogers’ monthly magazine Chatelaine is priced at $3.99 an issue for the tablet version while Maclean’s charges $2.99 per weekly issue.