NEW YORK — News Corp.’s Rupert Murdoch on Wednesday introduced a news publication tailored specifically for Apple’s iPad, a bid to expand his media empire with a new business model for delivering content digitally.
Called the Daily, the publication will cost 14 cents a day, Murdoch said at a news conference in New York. It will include high-definition video and 360-degree photos.
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Murdoch, News Corp.’s chairman and chief executive officer, is betting the popularity of Apple’s iPad will draw subscribers to the digital publication being run by Jesse Angelo, the former managing editor of the News Corp.-owned New York Post.
The Daily will feature general news, sports, arts and opinion sections.
“The iPad demands that we completely reimagine our craft,” Murdoch said at the event. “I’m convinced that in the tablet era there’s room for a fresh and robust new voice.”
News Corp. is confronting the dual challenges facing the media industry: shrinking print advertising revenue and the reluctance of Internet users to pay for content.
U.S. newspaper revenue tumbled 29 percent in 2009, the most recent year with data available, according to Newspaper Association of America. That marked the fourth straight drop.
Murdoch chose to develop the Daily after Apple demonstrated there’s a market for tablet computers, which blend the functionality of a touch-screen smartphone with a notebook computer. To take advantage of the device’s capabilities, the Daily will include print stories, along with multimedia audio and video content.
Murdoch was joined at the event by Angelo and Eddy Cue, Apple’s vice president of Internet services. Apple Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs is on medical leave.
“We have license to experiment, the ability to innovate,” said Murdoch. “We believe the Daily will be the model for how stories are told and consumed.”
Murdoch isn’t the first publishing magnate to bet on the iPad. British billionaire Richard Branson unveiled a magazine designed for the device in November.
His monthly publication, called “Project,” covers entertainment, design, technology and entrepreneurs. It costs $2.99 a month in Apple’s app store.
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