Can digital subscriptions really replace print magazines?

Can digital subscriptions really replace print magazines?

I wouldn't predict a year in the future, but just report it as a year in the past ! Well, maybe not so much as a specific year but a period of time, and as a matter of fact, one we're still in right now.

As the Internet's capabilities quickly grew (with the web and all) and mobile devices emerged (like the iPad), it became very clear that print media like newspapers and magazines would be replaced by lots of new media. The steady decline of revenues in that industry is evident. Whatever number you take (revenues, subscriptions, readers, titles, volume, etc.) it's going down !

And to be more precise: those decreasing numbers aren't equally replaced by digital subscriptions, if that's what you would expect. People don't consume information in such formats anymore. At least definitely not in the numbers they used to.

For a long time, newspapers and magazines were the best way to regularly sell and physically deliver a bound collection of information, carefully balancing on a certain mix of potentially interesting articles for readers and valuable exposure for advertisers. But digital media have been able to tip those scales and to start offering audiences many more formats, at various price-points.


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