After quietly becoming the most popular news platform in Canada, Apple is looking abroad for a bigger piece of the publishing pie.
Driving the news: The tech giant is reportedly planning to expand its growing news platform, Apple News, to new countries. The service, which currently operates in Canada, the U.S., the U.K. and Australia, already reaches 125 million people every month.
Catch-up: Since it conveniently comes pre-loaded on every Apple device, the platform has become the default news source for millions of people. That reach has given outlets that partner with Apple a much bigger audience than they would otherwise have.
- In exchange for their content, participating publishers are paid a share of the revenue based on either ad sales or audience engagement.
Why it matters: Meta’s news ban has killed a major source of traffic for Canadian outlets. While Apple certainly doesn’t forget to take their cut of the profits, the platform has also become a bit of a lifeline for an industry desperate for new revenue streams.
Zoom out: Outlets like Time, Vanity Fair, and Wired have reported millions of monthly readers and seven-figure revenue directly from Apple News. U.S. publisher The Daily Beast says it's now making more money from Apple News than on its own subscriptions.—LA