Murdoch’s ‘The Daily’ Shutting Down

So much for that digital experiment. News Corp. announced Monday that it will stop producing its tablet-only periodical The Daily on Dec. 15.

At its peak, the national publication had 100,000 subscribers and was looking to expand beyond the tablet. But success gave way to troubles that are typical in the modern-day newspaper industry, with News Corp. laying off 50 Daily employees over the summer.

“The problem was The Daily’s daily nature,” writes Mashable’s Lance Ulanoff. “It put it in competition not only with every daily newspaper and Web site in America, but put an enormous financial burden on News Corp. just to keep it running. It’s pretty clear to me that the subscription model did not do what News Corp. and its partners anticipated when it launched in Feb 2011.”

Jesse Angelo, the digital newspaper’s executive editor, will move on to become the publisher of the New York Post. The Post, like the Daily, is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.

The move is part of a bigger company initiative to split News Corp. into two separate companies, one focused on print and publishing, the other on broadcast.

Los Angeles Times:

News Corp. is beginning a reorganization that will split the company in two. Publishing properties including the Post, HarperCollins and the Wall Street Journal will remain under the name News Corp. A new entertainment-focused company, Fox Group, will include Fox News, Fox Broadcasting and 20th Century Fox films. Murdoch will retain leadership positions at both companies.

News of the end of the Daily was part of a larger announcement about the company’s division. In a company statement, Murdoch praised the Daily and its staff.

“From its launch, the Daily was a bold experiment in digital publishing and an amazing vehicle for innovation. Unfortunately, our experience was that we could not find a large enough audience quickly enough to convince us the business model was sustainable in the long-term. Therefore we will take the very best of what we have learned at the Daily and apply it to all our properties. Under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief Col Allan and the business and digital leadership of Jesse, I know the New York Post will continue to grow and become stronger on the Web, on mobile, and not least, the paper itself. I want to thank all of the journalists, digital and business professionals for the hard work they put into the Daily.”

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— Posted by Tracy Bloom.