Time Magazine Gets the Bundle Treatment
All access plan provides subscribers with print, online and app content.
Time Inc. has announced a new print and digital bundle for Time magazine. The deal, an "all access" plan, is much the same as the Sports Illustrated bundle they debuted earlier this year—but with more device choices out of the gate.
Starting with this week's issue on Thursday, current subscribers will get their print magazine along with free access to Time magazine content that will now be behind a paywall via a dedicated channel on Time.com. They can also download the magazine app onto the iPad, HP Touchpad (HP webOS) and the Samsung Galaxy Tab (Android). This is an expanded device offering from when Time Inc. first announced its all access program with Sports Illustrated in February, which was initially only available for the Galaxy Tab and Android smartphones.
New subscribers can opt for a yearly all access plan for $30, which gives them 56 print issues and full digital and app access. Or, customers can sign up for weekly access to the walled magazine channel content on the Web site. A third option at $2.99 per month gives customers full access to print, online and app content and can be cancelled at any time.
Magazine content went behind a wall of sorts last year. The majority of the issue was locked down for two weeks and then released for free. On Thursday, however, all magazine content will be given the channel treatment, accessed via a tab on the main navigation bar and placed behind a paywall. According to the company, free content is by far the most plentiful—95 percent of the Web site's content is non-magazine content.
Last May, Time Inc. took steps toward the full bundle arrangement by giving current subscribers access to iPad editions of Sports Illustrated, Time and Fortune for free.
As it did with Sports Illustrated, subscriptions can be initiated via a dedicated Web site. The iPad app will not be using Apple's subscription service, reports All Things D's Peter Kafka. Using Apple's new terms, iPad users will be directed to the Web site to purchase and download the apps. This leaves Time Inc. without the ability to direct customers to the Web site from within the app, or avail themselves of the App Store's market heft, but the company does retain all customer info and all of the subscription revenue.
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