It is being widely reported today that The Daily is being shut down. It's pretty apparent why that is the case.
The business model was not sustainable.
Now to be clear, I think they were on the right track with how they were structured, but just didn't execute correctly.
The Daily was structured originally as an iPad only app that was closed off from the rest of the Internet world. No other devices could access the stories. No sharing stories with friends via social media.
Eventually they opened it up to the iPhone, then Android Tablet and Kindle Fire, but it wasn't enough.
Too high of costs ($30 million per year) plus too few paying customers equaled a demise.
I only read The Daily once on a relative's iPad, a few months after it came out, and I actually enjoyed it. There were plenty of good stories and good information. I don't remember if they had any in-app advertising, but they either needed some or a better way to increase revenues.
In addition, aside from the initial announcement and surrounding buzz, plus the one time I used it, I don't recall hearing anything else about it. It was an 'out of sight, out of mind' type situation. They needed to get some kind of advertising out there about themselves, or better yet, make previews of articles widely available. I'm sure that if I saw enough previews for good reading, I'd find a way to subscribe.
Also, make it available everywhere! I know they were trying to be exclusively on mobile devices, but I just don't think we are there yet. Being able to log into my account through their website so I could view stories would be great!
But alas, it is not to be. Great concept. Poorly executed. Hopefully, whoever follows, learns from The Daily's failures and is a success!
No comments:
Post a Comment