Not to mention a few technical investment

Lagardère Active developed including an enriched version of "Paris-Match" for the iPad. The first group of French magazines CEO explains how the Apple tablet will change the equation for the press.

The iPad is expected as the Messiah by the press. Is this really a chance for the publishers of newspapers

The iPad from Apple, but also the other tablets which will be launched by other manufacturers in the coming months, are an opportunity and a chance for all media groups and the press in particular. For me, is the hypermedia will really change the way to consume information by providing both text, sound, video of inter-active way and in a situation of mobility. Reduced the footprint of this terminal, the size and the exceptional quality of the screen, ergonomics based on touch navigation, ease of use, the playful side... The iPad has just for him.

It will revolutionize the way of consuming content on the Internet in the same way that the iPhone has revolutionized the market for smartphones. For me, it's more a digital access dashboard to the entertainment as a simple digital player or a SFF PC.

That said, nobody even really knows how this tablet will be used: for example, read the news in a vertical or horizontal manner Connect in transportation, in the Office or at home since his show This is not without consequences on the manner in which it must devise our magazines iPad applications. We learn at the same time that the consumer will create its uses.

Do you think that the iPad will accelerate the mutation of the newspapers to digital

No one knows how fast the digital readout of the press will be adopted. It is the consumer who decides, and, for him, there are two things that matter: the price of access and the cost of use. At 499 euros for the first model, the iPad is not a consumer price. And unlike the iPhone, which has revolutionized the uses of "smartphones", the iPad will probably not funded by Telecom operators. If create a market of mass with millions of users, it be that Apple consents to a real decline in prices. With the ambition to be the leader of the magazines on the iPad in Europe, we regularly draw the attention of Apple on this topic.

The press has not interest to subsidize the iPad

Some newspapers will perhaps be, because they already have high acquisition costs to retain their subscribers. But it does not belong to magazine publishers to subsidize the iPad and other tablets. We are looking with attention the American market, where we are present and which is a market for subscriptions.

How are you you prepared for the launch in Lagardère Active

We will propose as soon as Friday, "Paris-Match" and "table". And by the end of the year, we plan to launch 4 or 5 other version iPad titles. In practical terms, for "Paris Match" for example, we left the paper version to enrich it with audio, video, content photo. The idea is to offer the consumer an experience similar to that of the paper version, with a finished product that has a beginning and an end, to browsing, etc. Each article was remaquetté to be readable in a vertical and a horizontal version. Magazine browsing with a slip of the fingers on the touch screen, the sound where the videos can be read from a simple pressure of the finger.

What will be your economic model

We will begin with a number discovered "Paris Match" and "table", with timeless subjects. During the months of June to "Paris Match", or July for"table", will need to purchase the content enriched the paper versions of the time, with a periodicity at least equivalent to that of the paper. In addition we can also, according to the news, out special editions. The sale price will not be very distant from that of the paper version, knowing that we are constrained by tariff grid of Apple, which does not have enough levels: we have the choice between 0.79 euro, 1.59 euro, 2.39 euro 2.99 euro, etc. We also asked Apple to evolve this grid.

We think also to formulas of subscription, pre-paid or coupling between the paper, the Internet, the mobile... Need an innovative marketing. What is certain is that all our applications will be paying. The economic model of the iPad is very close to that of the press (income distribution advertising revenues).

Why the consumer pay for content on the iPad, while he is accustomed to free on the Internet

I am confident that consumers are willing to pay for content have value, for an experience combining fun, service and interactivity, what I call "value for money." They are paying today for the paper version of "Paris Match", I see no reason that they do not pay for the same content, enriched and supplemented on a mobile terminal. The good news is that the Apple ecosystem is based on a "business model" based on the paying, the reverse of the Internet. Must be installed on the shelves a virtuous and beneficial ecosystem to accompany the mutation of the press to digital and do not renew the historic error on Internet with free content.

Will the iPad be interesting advertising support for the press

One can think that the bars will be also "hyper advertising" for advertisers. For the moment, advertising investments essentially take the form of special operations or sponsoring. We also sell content designed specifically for trademarks, the so-called "content brand. The advertising business model on the iPad remains to invent. But there is a difference with what is happening on the Internet: on the shelves we master our content while on the Internet they are disaggregated.

Do you find acceptable reverse Apple 30 of the revenue

This cost is roughly equivalent to the distribution of the paper VAT versions.

A presence on the iPad requires heavy investments

These are the editors of the paper titles that need to take the production of content for the iPad. I say since my arrival in 2006 editorial directors must become the "brand managers" responsible for brands media, producing content and organizing their distribution on several platforms (print, Web, mobile, now iPad). This is still easier for the iPad since we start from the contents of the paper, that it is enriching. We will invest in the training of our journalists, the reinforcement of skills which fail, recourse to external expertise. Not to mention a few technical investment.

What balance are you getting your iPhone applications

We have developed 15 applications for the iPhone in France, some of which are for-profit ("it to table") and others contain sections paying ("she Astro", "Be", "Parents", etc). They totalled 3 million cumulative downloads, and nearly 100 million page views in April. The turnover achieved on the iPhone, which is expected to reach 1 million euros this year, remains modest, but we have, also, ambitions.

Lagardère Active has been investing in digital. Where are you today

We had aimed to achieve between 5 and 10 of our turnover in digital in 2009. We, the digital activities represent today more than 7. Digital is still an investment, but some sites are profitable: the pure-players (Doctissimo, fellow, etc.), and Elle.fr. Our strategy is very clear: we focus on our block-busters, i.e. sites for which the hearing is sufficient to generate significant advertising revenue, and we have the means to them.