As reported here in June, the Toronto Star, Canada’s largest daily circulation newspaper, has launched Star Touch, its major tablet/iPad initiative. Officially launched today, the newspaper is following in the footsteps of Montreal’s La Presse+’s news tablet app, which, at just over two years old, is considered one of the best in the world. Its tablet design is much more engaging and above all, doesn’t try to imitate a printed newspaper. Using that strategy, La Presse+ has managed to broaden its audience and increase engagement with the new app that now accounts for an unprecedented 60% of the paper’s total ad revenue. La Presse+ launched in April 2013 at an estimated $40 million and is continuing to attract new and younger readers. The result? A stunning 45% increase in readership with exceptional reader engagement. For example, an average of 44 minutes is spent in the app on weekdays, 73 minutes on Saturdays and 50 minutes on Sundays. Operating costs of the Star Touch launch are expected hit $9 million this year with $13 to $15 million in capital spending predicted.
The free iPad app has been characterized as an innovative, and above all interactive way for readers to get news, and will deliver fresh content by 5:30 am each day. Toronto Star publisher John Cruickshank added that the technology gives the newspaper “the greatest opportunity in generations” to showcase stories in interactive ways that appeal to broad, highly engaged young audiences. He said that it will dramatically change storytelling by combining the award-winning journalism of Canada’s largest daily newspaper with “a sense of fun and entertainment.”
The groundbreaking app is part of Frankfurt-Germany-based alfa Media – a suite of software products marketed through its sister company, alfa CTP, which is based in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. MediaSuite has been hugely successful in Europe, where its format-independent approach has helped publishers redefine themselves across all modern media platforms. The system is defined by its flexibility – both in terms of its modularity and its ability to run either on local servers or in a cloud-based architecture. But more than that, it’s a system that allows publishers to maximize existing forms, while creating an environment for the development and presentation of new content with new target readers and advertisers, across all media platforms. In short, its layout and content is much more engaging and interesting – especially for younger viewers who are used to receiving the bulk of their information on their tablets, computers or other devices.
“Newspaper and magazine publishers know that it can no longer be business as usual,” said Paul Norton, alfa CTP Systems Vice President of Sales and Marketing in North America. “They have to find creative ways to expand what they do, to both increase readership and drive new sources of advertising. Alfa’s strategy is to empower its customers to rebuild their brands and reassert their status as the pre-eminent voice of their communities,” he added.
