Pulse begins selling monthly WSJ subscriptions

The Pulse news-reader application for smartphones and tablets has begun selling a monthly subscription to The Wall Street Journal, reports Douglas MacMillan of Bloomberg News.

MacMillan writes, “The Pulse partnership could help the Journal reach new readers who prefer to browse content on mobile devices and may have been unwilling to pay more than $25 a month for a full subscription to the paper, said Alisa Bowen, head of product at News Corp.’s Dow Jones & Co.

“‘There’s a perception that people who use these aggregators of different content don’t value premium sources, that all media brands are created equally,’ Bowen said. ‘What we’re trying to prove with Pulse is that even in this broader environment, premium sources still matter.’

“The companies would not reveal what portion of the subscription fees each would get after Apple took its cut.

“Executives at the newspaper began talking with Pulse about app subscriptions about six months ago, Kothari said. The companies decided to offer low-cost versions of its subscriptions after seeing the success of game makers like Zynga Inc. in selling virtual goods within iPhone apps.”

Read more here. The news release is available here.