Hearst: “Nearly 800,000″ monthly digital U.S. subs, short of 1 million goal

paidContent reporting:
In a New Year’s letter to employees, Hearst Magazines president David Carey writes that the company has nearly 800,000 monthly digital subscribers in the U.S. “across iPads, Nooks, Kindle Fires and Android devices–the highest in the industry.” Hearst charges separately for its print and digital editions, and Carey writes, “More than 80 percent of our digital subscribers are new to our files, and their engagement levels meet or exceed the high levels we see from our print products.”
The “nearly 800,000 figure” falls short of the million digital subscriptions that Carey said was the company’s 2012 target in last year’s letter. (Last year, Carey did not break out how many digital subscriptions the magazines had.) The list of platforms also underscores how digital magazine reading changed in 2012: Last year, Carey mentioned subscriptions across “iTunes, Zinio, Nook, Amazon and Next Issue Media.” This year, Zinio, which is reportedly up for sale (and still without a buyer after six months), and magazine publisher joint venture Next Issue didn’t make the list.
Carey tells AdAge, “When I issued the one million goal, we had mid-300,000 e-subs in house, and while I knew it was going to be a real stretch, it was the right, super aggressive number to shoot for.”
A few other highlights from the letter: Carey says the company had 186 million monthly mobile page views by the end of 2012, up from 39 million in 2011; foodie site Delish.com introduced a print special that was sold with six titles at Wal-Mart, producing a 22 percent lift in single-copy sales; Hearts plans to “‘future-proof’ its digital business model at account for mobile viewing.
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