The Digital Reader

The Audit Bureau of Circulations announced yesterday that it has revised the rules for digital magazines. From the press release:

The board of the Audit Bureau of Circulations modified its definition of a digital magazine in the U.S. and Canada to accommodate new reading devices such as the Apple iPad. The new standards state that a replica digital edition must include a print edition’s full editorial content and advertising, but it no longer needs to be presented in a layout identical to the print version. Replica digital editions will continue to be included in a magazine’s circulation guarantee, or rate base.

Why does this matter? Well, (most) magazines don’t make a lot of money off of subscription and newsstand income; they get most of their funding from selling ads. They can now take all the content and ads in the paper edition, rearrange it so it’s usable on a small screen, and still get to count it as part of their circulation. This new rule give publishers a financial incentive to try something other than a straightforward digital copy of the paper edition of the magazine.