Next Issue Media — the all-you-can-read digital magazine subscription service jointly founded by Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc. four years ago — is expanding to Canada Thursday with the help of a new backer, Toronto-based Rogers Media.
Next Issue gives customers access to the digital editions of more than 100 magazines on iPads, Android tablets and Windows 8 devices. The most basic plan, priced at $9.99 per month, grants access to all monthly titles available through the service, including Esquire, Wired and ESPN The Magazine. A $14.99 plan includes all monthly as well as a small roster of weekly titles, including The New Yorker, Bloomberg Businessweek and New York. As part of the new agreement, Rogers Media magazines, including current affairs publication Maclean's and women's fashion glossy Flare, are also now being bundled into the service.
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Next Issue's monthly plans will be available to existing Rogers cable and wireless customers on Oct. 15, and to the rest of Canada on Dec. 15, priced the same as the U.S. Next Issue said that a smartphone version of its app is on the way, but did not specify if it is for iPhone, Android or both. French editions of Next Issue's apps are also slated for 2014.
Next Issue says 75,000 people are currently subscribing to one of its two plans and that it generated approximately $12 million in sales over the past 12 months. Another 20,000 people have currently activated free trials. The company is hoping Canada, with its 22 million wireless users, can help boost that count.
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