New York Times Turf War Will Decide iPad Edition Pricing

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Posted February 16, 2010 at 9:25pm by iClarified

An internal turf war at the New York Times may decide the pricing for newspaper's iPad edition, according to a Business Insider report.

A Times source says that two factions are rivaling to control the iPad.

On one side you have print circulation who wants to charge for $20 to $30 per month for the iPad app, similar to the price of a print publication. They feel that people will cancel the print version if they can get the same thing on their iPad.

On the other side, you have the digital operation who wants to charge $10 per month for the iPad edition. The digital side will provide interactive content for the iPad no matter what happens; however, they do not want print to have control of pricing, marketing and other facets of the product.

This internal dispute could determine how relevant and how profitable the New York Times remains in the future. The fight has apparently escalated all the way to the top with executives now debating which way to go.

Business Insider has heard that New York Times Media Group President Scott Heekin-Canedy is among those supporting the $20-30 per month print circulation side.

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New York Times Turf War Will Decide iPad Edition Pricing

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CheapSkate - February 17, 2010 at 6:37am

Charging 20-30$ a month for a digital newspaper is a non-starter. If NYT is greedy nobody will bother or if they do, it will be through piracy. It's the same challenge faced by the music and film industry but from a different angle... price people out of the market you will never get them back. They should be keeping prices low, maximising subscriptions and increasing advertising revenue.

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