News Corp. debuts digital Daily for iPad

A daily newspaper designed by News Corp. exclusively for Apple's iPad is available for $40 annually, comparable to what some big-city publishers charge monthly to deliver their print editions.

The digital newspaper, called The Daily, debuted Wednesday in Apple Inc.'s App Store. News Corp. CEO Rupert Murdoch unveiled it in New York after weeks of anticipation.

The Daily is the latest example of how media companies are trying to mine the iPad's popularity for new streams of revenue. Last month, a company backed by The New York Times Co., The Washington Post Co. and USA Today publisher Gannett Co. launched Ongo, a website that, for $7 a month, pulls together stories from various outlets in one place and lays them out in a clean, ad-free format.

The Daily will cost 99 cents per week, substantially less than The Wall Street Journal's iPad subscription rate of $3.99 per week, and is also available for $39.99 annually.

Murdoch says The Daily can afford a low price because it won't have to pay for printing presses or fuel to deliver editions. It will rely on reporters in New York and Los Angeles, as well as freelancers, to produce up to 100 pages of coverage focused on news, sports, gossip, opinion and entertainment. It will be the first newspaper whose subscriptions will be billed directly through Apple's iTunes store. - AP