Globe and Mail iPad app free for now

Posted by Savita Sauvin on July 29, 2010 at 4:07 PM

National Canadian daily The Globe and Mail has launched an iPad news app, available for download at the iTunes App store, Editor & Publisher.com reported today.

After several internal discussions with media companies trying to figure out how users will interact with the content on the mobile device, the company decided to offer the app on a two month free trial to begin with, thanks to the sponsorship from three big advertising partners, GM Canada, Infiniti and Capital One. This sponsorship is part of a multi-platform deal that also allows users access to the Globe's other mobile inventory free for two months.

The newspaper's app was developed by Spreed Inc. of Toronto, and provides readers with content specifically selected for the iPad featuring breaking news and analysis, a daily photo gallery and the ability to download content for offline reading, according to the press release by Canada Newswire posted on DigitalJournal.com.

"We knew the screen was ideal for the presentation of photo journalism, so we've integrated photography by drawing out our daily 'Day in Pictures' gallery," Angus Frame, vice president of digital for the Globe and Mail, told MarketingMagCanada. "It's also a great reading device so we have an area called Featured where we can highlight stories that are particularly good reads. A mobile or web user commonly reads a few paragraphs and moves on, whereas we think iPad users will spend some more time with the content so we want to offer up that Globe journalism that works well on the platform."

Hoping the app will get a million page views in its first month, marketing push initiatives are slated to begin in August. While the company continues to work on updates, Frame said, "It's just about having - much like our mobile apps - regular series of releases to continually improve the app based on business and editorial needs, user feedback and changing technology," MarketingMag Canada reported.

The newspaper recently launched the Globe2Goepaper that allows readers to view and download a digital version of the printed Globe and Mail on mobile phones and the iPad, according to the press release.

A recent readership survey by the NAD Bank showed significant growth for both print and online, with 1,245,600 average weekly readers, an increase of 12.5 percent. The newspaper division's mobile properties have generated 20 million page views in the month of June.