Insider Details How Eddy Cue Negotiated Apple News+ with Publishers

In a lengthy new article over at Vanity Fair, an insider source has shared the details of how Eddy Cue, Apple’s senior VP of Internet Software and Services, negotiated Apple News+ with some of the leading news publishers, including the New York Times and Washington Post.

Apple news

Apple’s premium new Apple News+ service not only absorbs Texture’s all-you-can-read magazine subscriptions but also adds a bunch of leading newspapers to the list, including the Los Angeles Times and Wall Street Journal. The source notes that Cue’s main pitch to the publishers was “We’ll make you the most-read newspaper in the world.”

According to the insider, Cue was allegedly “in and out” of the Washington Post and New York Times offices, both of which declined to join Apple’s latest venture saying they already have legions of direct subscribers which makes News+ “unnecessary” and possibly even “a profit drain”:


“They put a tremendous amount of pressure on,” one source claimed. Earlier reports indicated that both the Post and the Times were opposed to Apple’s rumored 50 percent revenue cut.

“Our focus is on growing our own subscription base, so joining Apple News+ did not make sense for us at this point,” said Post spokeswoman Kris Coratti. “Apple has been a very good partner — we will continue collaborating with them on other ongoing projects and expect to do many things with them in the future.”

Meanwhile, Times COO Meredith Kopit Levien has hinted that the publication could come to News+ in the future if it proves popular. You can read the full article here.

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