Sports Illustrated Friday announced "All Access," a digital subscription plan in alliance with Google in which digital-only and digital-print combination plans will be sold for Android-based tablets and smartphones. The "All Access" applications will be priced at $48 annually or $4.99 per month for an offering that includes the print magazine and unlimited access via the web, tablet or smartphone; or $3.99 per month for a digital-only plan. Current print subscribers can also activate the digital content for free for the duration of their current term. The "All Access" plan expands significantly from SI's tablet-based access to date, which had been generally limited to its iPad application and is still sold only on a per-issue basis. "This announcement is completely representative of where we're going and what we're looking to do on these new platforms," said Time Inc. Exec VP & Chief Digital Officer Randall Rothenberg. "The key to the media business is clearly habituation, so this is obviously a very important breakthrough. It's still very early days in this new form of retailing, but we're very excited." Time Inc. has been unable to come to terms with Apple Inc. on subscription offerings through iTunes, with pricing, billing and customer data believed to be among the sticking points, though negotiations continue. Time Inc. VP/Emerging Platforms for Business Development Ken Fuchs was a key figure in the talks with Google to create the digital subscription offerings, and pricing for "All-Access" was set solely by Time Inc. and SI. Industry sources said Google is not participating in a revenue-sharing agreement with SI for the digital subscription plans, rather seeking to use SI to drive further adoption of the Android mobile platform. SI's agreements with other digital retailers and distributors will vary as new offerings are developed. The $48 per year price point, either through the annual combination plan or the digital-only plan over 12 months, is slightly more than the $39 per year commonly marketed for just the print magazine. The digital editions, however, to date have offered additional content, particularly extended photo galleries, not available in the magazine (Eric Fisher, SportsBusiness Journal).
ROTTEN APPLE? AD AGE's Michael Learmonth noted Time Inc. launched its "version of the digital future of magazines," but gave "no update on if and when this would include subscriptions on Apple's iPad, the dominant device among a new generation of tablet computers." The plan is "restricted to Google devices such as Android-powered phones, Google's Chrome operating system and Samsung's 'Galaxy' tablet computer, but will also include HP's upcoming 'TouchPad' when it launches later this year." Single copies of Time Inc. titles like Sports Illustrated are "available in Apple's app store, but subscriptions are still some ways away." Time Inc. execs "expressed confidence that subscriptions would be coming to iTunes, but declined to give a timetable or details on the talks." Rothenberg: "We are confident we will be able to extend this 'All Access' idea across all devices" (ADAGE.com, 2/11). Nielsen data shows that iPhone users "make up 28% of the mobile market, compared to Android's 18%." In addition, the iPad "accounted for 75% of all tablet sales last quarter." Time Inc. Sports Group President Mark Ford said it is "premature" to comment on the state of negotiations between the publisher and Apple (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 2/12). In N.Y., Jeremy Peters noted as "large as the Android tablet market could prove to be, not having a way to sell subscriptions for the iPad is still a big headache for publishers." But Rothenberg said, "Those stores that lock us out, well, it just means that other stores are going to get more traffic, more buyers" (NYTIMES.com, 2/13).
NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT: PAIDCONTENT's David Kaplan noted the timing of SI unveiling the new "All Access" subscription is "not happenstance." SI "plans to ride the wave of publicity that usually accompanies" the magazine’s annual Swimsuit Issue. There also are "several new Swimsuit digital products, including 3D," coming out tomorrow (PAIDCONTENT.org, 2/11).
