John Squires is leaving Time Inc. to become managing director of a new consortium backed by five major publishers — Time Inc., Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith and News Corp. — that are building an iTunes-like Web aimed at selling digital versions of magazines and newspapers for e-readers.
In what is the most dramatic move yet by publishers to put a huge segment of their publications behind a pay wall, Squires said the consortium is also developing smartphone applications, and figuring out ways to bring in advertisers.
“It will have two revenue streams: subscriptions and advertising,” said Squiers of the new venture.
Squires said the aim is to be hardware neutral so that any device manufacturer, including those developed by Hewlett-Packard, Sony and Apple, could pick up the content. Right now, e-readers like Amazon’s Kindle and the upcoming Nook from Barnes & Noble are hot sellers, but the lack of color screens is seen as inappropriate for magazines and newspapers.
As part of his new role, Squires is stepping down as executive vice president at Time Inc. to run the venture, which has yet to get a formal name. He will also lead the search for a permanent CEO, and told The Post he planned to toss his hat into the ring for the job.
The board of the new venture will consist of two members from each of the original backers.
Some companies, notably Hachette Filipacchi Media and Rodale, are not part of the consortium. Hachette has a long-term contract with Zinio to format its magazines for digital prodcuts. Rodale also has a shorter term contract with another vendor.
Individual publishers will set the prices that they charge consumers for both the subscriptions and advertising. Squires said that he expects publishers will be able to bundle digital subscriptions with their print subscriptions.
He also said the consortium is not meant to supercede publishers’ individual digital efforts.
Hardware manufacturers are racing to develop products that are expected to hit stores by mid-2010. Most experts expect the devices to be in the $200 range.
