Fairfax readies release of new iPhone apps

Fairfax Media today revealed the next stage in its bid to get readers to pay for content by announcing its intention to charge people to read news on the go.

Fairfax CEO Brian McCarthy said four subscription-only smartphone applications for its main digital mastheads, the smh.com.au, theage.com.au, brisbanetimes.com.au and watoday.com.au, would be released within weeks.

Users would be charged a monthly fee to download and use the apps on their iPhones and other similar handsets, of which there are now more than 2 million in circulation in Australia.

Speaking to the American Chamber of Commerce in Sydney Mr McCarthy said the steps marked the first move by Fairfax - publisher of this website - to charge for its online news content on a digital platform.

Mr McCarthy did not reveal what Fairfax would charge users but said that it offered "terrific value" and that he was confident smart phone users will find it "very attractive".

The announcement is yet another sign that Fairfax is pushing harder into charging people for content on mobile devices and, in some cases, on the internet. Earlier this week, the publisher announced that it would charge casual readers of the Good Food Guide $9.99 for a year's subscription to a special website, the same price as the guide's iPhone app. Fairfax's app for the iPad - a smart edition PDF of the paper - is free to subscribers of the newspaper.

Fairfax's chief competitor in Australia, News Ltd, which plans to put up paywalls around its websites some time next year, released a paid-for app for the iPad for its broadsheet The Australian earlier this year, charging users $4.99 a month.

Unlike users of The Australian's iPad app, who are asked each month whether they want to renew their subscription, subscribers of the Fairfax iPhone apps will be able to subscribe much like a magazine in six-month tranches.

Users will be able to elect what genres of content they want to read, watch videos and customise what appears on the screen of their device. Fairfax is insistent the experience will be different and superior to that of accessing each of those news websites through a web browser on a mobile phone.

In his speech Mr McCarthy said that this kind of development of ''creating content, re-editing it, repackaging it and selling it was very much indicative of the strategic direction of the company".

"I think the media industry has gone through a period of uncertainty in recent years as it has attempted to come to grips with structural change and dire forecasts.''

''But I sense we are now moving into a more positive era," he told the lunch. Two weeks ago, Fairfax announced a $280 million profit for the most recent financial year, turning around a loss of $380 million the previous year.

''I think media companies are done with the doomsayers and are now focusing on the tremendous possibilities ahead of us as new platforms and channels for our content emerge.

''There is no doubt they will be challenging times, but I also think they will be very exciting times. We are very well positioned to adapt and take full advantage of whatever change occurs in the media environment.''

jlee@smh.com.au

BusinessDay