Rogers Media to "reimagine" Next Issue subscription service as Texture

Next Issue Canada, the two-year-old Rogers Media all-you-want magazine subscription service, is being rebranded and repositioned as Texture starting Thursday. According to a story in the Globe and Mail, Rogers is following the lead of its U.S. partners, a consortium of publishers including Condé Nast Publications Inc., Hearst Corp., New York-based private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Meredith Corp., News Corp. and  Time Inc. The consortium presents Texture as "a completely reimagined magazine experience."

It moves the service -- which has more than 100,000 subscribers and has enjoyed a bigger relative uptake than in the U.S. --  from its positioning to date as an electronic simulation of a traditional "magazine stand". It puts the emphasis more on digital content and the way readers make use of it -- much different than from being a "flip book" or pdf online version of the traditional Rogers publications as well as more than 100 U.S. titles.

“It was a great opportunity for us basically to go out and say, whatever preconceived notions you might have about magazines, about digital magazines, about this product itself, we continue to evolve and we continue to innovate,” Steve Maich, senior vice-president of publishing for Rogers, said in an interview last week at his Toronto office. “So give it a second look.”

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Next Issue Canada launching French-language newsstand and app on April 20

For the first time, starting April 20, Rogers is launching a French version of Next Issue Canada, the digital magazine newsstand. It will feature an all-French interface with more than 20 Quebec-based French magazines and access to more than 100 English titles (the French titles will continue to be available in Next Issue in English).

The French magazine titles are 5-15, Allô Vedettes, Châtelaine, Custom Tour,Déco Réno $, Enfants Québec, Full Fille, Gabrielle, Géo Plein air, JE cuisine, JE décore, L'actualité, LOULOU, Maison & Demeure, Moto Journal, Protégez-vous, Quadnet/le monde du VTT, Québec Science, Sélection du Reader's Digest, Ricardo, Riches et célèbres, and Vélo Mag.
Brinda Luckoo, Senior Director, Next Issue Canada, Rogers Media said

"With Next Issue now available in both French and English, we're committed to reaching more content lovers across the country and continuing our investment in the digital future of the magazine industry."

The Next Issue app will now be downloaded in preferred language device setting, and for popular mobile products including Android™ tablets and smartphones, and iPad®, iPod® Touch, iPhone and Windows 8 devices (English service only for Windows 8). As with the English service, one account is shareable across five devices and the service is available at $9.99 per month for all monthly and bi-weekly magazines and $14.99, subscribers including access to all weekly publications with back issues included. Next Issue Media is a joint venture of six leading U.S. magazine publishers - Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp., Rogers Communications, and Time Inc. Next Issue Canada. launched in 2013, is a joint venture with Rogers and Next Issue Media.  

Next Issue Media marking four years offering "all you can read" magazine sub service

Next Issue Media, the so-called "Netflix for magazines", is apparently no flash in the pan; it is marking four years since the all-you-can-read "digital newsstand" or subscription service was launched. It was created as something of a matter of self-preservation by the big U.S. magazine publishers (Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, Time Inc.) and soon thereafter Rogers Media spent $5 million launching Next Issue Canada in Canada, which included 100 U.S. and a dozen Rogers titles. 

A year ago, it was reported that the Canadian service had 45,000 paying customers and 20,000 people trying a free preview. It was reported elsewhere that the U.S. version had about 150,000 paying subscribers, though it had yet to achieve profitability. 

The service started with 32 titles and one device (iPad) and now offers more than 145 titles on 6 devices, including various iPhone and Android smartphones and tablets as well as desktops. 
Related posts:

• Rogers Media withdraws magazine titles from library service offering free downloads
• Next Issue Canada mag sub service has 45,000 paying, 20,000 tryout customers
• Next Issue Canada rolls out free 30-day trial for non-Rogers subscribers
• Preview of Next Issue Media digital newsstand for U.S. titles now online

Investment in Next Issue will expand platform, raise awareness of flat-rate magazine sub service

The U.S. consortium of large magazine companies which run Next Issue Media and with which Rogers partners on Next Issue Canada, has raised $50 million from investment firm KKR to expand the service. It plans to add capabilities to its tablet and smartphone app that include content search, discovering and sharing, according to a story on MediaPost. At least in part with the new investment, Next Issue intends to launch a multiplatform ad campaign on TV, digital and in print. Richard Sarnoff, managing director at KKR and head of the firm’s media & communications investment team in the Americas, stated: 

“Today's consumer demands mobile access to large catalogs of premium content, anytime, anywhere. Next Issue's proven success applying this model to magazines has created a compelling consumer proposition that will serve the interests of readers, publishers and advertisers alike.”

Next Issue was formed in 2009 by Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc.Currently, Next Issue offers subscriber flat-rate access to 145 consumer magazines ($9.99 a month or $14.99 a month including weeklies such as The New Yorker). Next Issue Canada offers its members about 100 titles on the same terms, including most of Rogers's better known titles such as Maclean's, Today's Parent, Chatelaine and Canadian Business as well as U.S. titles. 

Next Issue Canada mag sub service has 45,000 paying, 20,000 tryout customers

A Twitter post today by Christine Dobby, the Financial Post telecom and media reporter quotes Rogers Media president Keith Pelley saying Next Issue Canada has 45,000 paid subscribers plus 20,000 receiving it on a free trial. Is that good? Enquiring minds want to know. The service started last October. Apparently Rogers spent $5 million launching Next Issue Canada, which offers a dozen Rogers titles and about 100 U.S. magazines for one flat price.

(She also reports that Rogers's media business saw revenue growth of 8% to $367,000 in the first quarter of 2014; largely due to the impact of Sportsnet 360.)

Rogers Media withdraws magazine titles from library service offering free downloads

For many library card holders in Canada, it may have seemed too good to be true -- that they could download free digital copies of leading magazines such as Maclean's and Chatelaine, using a service powered by replica magazine service Zinio. As it has turned out, after a brief period of access,  it was. 

Rogers Media has withdrawn most of its magazines from the service, attributing the decision to advice from the industry trade association Magazines Canada. Mark Jamison, the president of Magazines Canada said it was because of "content delivery expectations and restrictions". According to Rogers, quoted by the Globe and Mail, the decision wasn't its own, but Magazines Canada's, of which it is a prominent member and major funder. 

It can't be a complete coincidence that Rogers Media's recently announced partnership with the U.S. group Next Issue Media  to form Next Issue Canada is based on the intention to sell digital magazines packages, its own and as many as 100 American titles. Essentially at least part of this story is the clash between "free" distribution and "paid". 

The Zinio subscriptions which libraries paid in order to be able to offer free magazines to cardholders was based on a combination of a flat license and user fees. My local library has been offering 50 titles to anyone with a valid library card, until now. Some of the more popular ones included Canadian Living, National Geographic (with interactive content), O, the Oprah Magazine, Women’s and Men’s Health, Style at Home, Maclean's, Chatelaine,  the Economist, Hello! Canada, House & Home, Maxim, Zoomer and Sportsnet. As can be seen, Rogers's decision will leave a fairly large hole.

A note on the Zinio site says: 

PLEASE NOTE: Effective October 2013 Rogers Publishing Group has removed the following publications from all library Zinio collections: Canadian Business, Chatelaine, Maclean's, Today's Parent and L'actualite. We are working on replacement titles.

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Next Issue Media to Apple: "We're going with Android for now" (hint, hint)

The tight grip that Apple has on data about magazine customers served through its app store has been a constant irritant to publishers who want to sell digital subscriptions and control subscriber data. Apple's rules mean publishers can't even sell direct subscriptions to their readers if they sign onto the App Store. 

A shot has just been aimed across Apple's bow with the announcement that Next Issue Media -- a joint venture digital newsstand backed by big U.S. magazine players like Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corporation and Time Inc. -- will launch its online store on Google's Android Marketplace, early next year. According to a story on MediaMemo, Next Media says this is because Android is an important tabloid platform and gives them more control.

It’s not a technical issue, [NIM CEO Morgan] Guenther says, because “we’re ready to support Apple as well,” and he says he’s confident that will happen. But “Android is a very important tablet platform, and a very important platform for smartphones.” 

Guenther wouldn’t disclose other details about his launch, but you don’t have to squint to read between the lines here. The takeaway is that Google has been flexible on the business issues that are important to the publishers that own his company. And that Apple’s not there yet.

The key split, still: Publishers want the ability to sell their tablet magazines directly to consumers, or at least to be able to access the data that iTunes collects when it sells them.