La Presse will continue to be published on paper Saturday only
On the heels of the success of La Presse+, its free digital tablet edition, La Presse will mark a milestone in its history on January 1, 2016. As of that date, La Presse+ will replace the print version of La Presse from Monday to Friday. The Saturday print edition will be maintained, and will continue to be distributed to subscribers and points of sale.
LA PRESSE+: OUTSTANDING RESULTS
"La Presse will soon become the world's first major print daily newspaper to go 100% digital on weekdays, and will position itself as Québec's digital news and information leader," explained Guy Crevier, President and Publisher of La Presse, "Thirty months after its launch, La Presse+ is now more successful than the print version of La Presse after 131 years of existence. Over 460,000 people(1) have made La Presse+ part of their weekly news and information ritual. At the same time, La Presse+ is a huge success with advertisers, who have quickly adopted it as a creative advertising vehicle—a highly effective and measurable medium for reaching top-quality target audiences."
"This digital shift was supported with conviction and consistency by La Presse's shareholder, Power Corporation," added Mr. Crevier.
In recent years, mass adoption of new technologies has led to a sharp downturn for the vast majority of mainstream media outlets, especially print dailies, which now face an unprecedented critical period. "When we developed La Presse+, we made the decision to create a new model for the digital future," Mr. Crevier continued: "This edition for tablet is enabling us to maintain, and indeed improve, the quality, depth, richness and diversity of our content, and to continue offering our daily readers in-depth series and features, debates, columns and editorials."
La Presse+ is generating outstanding engagement among readers, who spend an average(2) of 40 minutes with the app on weekdays, one hour on Saturdays and 50 minutes on Sundays. It is also turning out to be a very powerful tool for renewing and rejuvenating La Presse's audience base, since it is successfully reaching and retaining adults aged 25 to 54, who make up 63%(3) of its readership.
SATURDAY PRINT EDITION TO CONTINUE
Although large numbers of readers now get their weekend news digitally with La Presse+, reading the Saturday La Presse on paper remains a potent, engaging ritual to which many people are profoundly attached, as well as a particularly effective tool for advertisers. This popularity with readers and strong interest from the advertising industry are the reasons why the Saturday print edition will be maintained, despite trends observed in the industry.
NO CHANGE FOR LA PRESSE SUBSCRIBERS UNTIL DECEMBER 31
Readers of the print edition of La Presse are deeply attached to their newspaper, and for that reason La Presse wished to give them several months' advance notice of this important development. There will be no change to print subscriptions before December 31, and various scenarios have been developed based on the different types of subscription currently available to ensure a simple, respectful transition for subscribers after that date. Individual subscribers will receive a letter with detailed explanations in the coming weeks.
OLIVE MEDIA STAFF TO JOIN LA PRESSE TEAM
In the wake of the progression of La Presse's digital strategy, the resources of interactive advertising sales representation house Olive Media will be integrated into the La Presse team as of January 2016 in order to eventually provide advertisers with a one-stop solution for all platforms. La Presse will therefore benefit from the one-of-a-kind digital expertise of the Olive Media team, renowned in the advertising industry for the quality of its customer service and the excellence of its ad operations, in strengthening its multiplatform offering.
TORONTO STAR LAUNCHES DIGITAL EDITION, STAR TOUCH
The Toronto Star, Canada's largest daily newspaper, yesterday launched its digital tablet edition, STAR TOUCH, powered by the La Presse+ technology platform. The Toronto Star is the first client to adopt the La Presse+ platform.
