WSJ iPad app garners more than 3,200 subscriptions

The Wall Street Journal iPad application has attracted more than 3,200 subscribers in the first two weeks, according to Gillian Reagan of The Business Insider.

Reagan writes, “More than 30,000 existing subscribers downloaded the free iPad app, according to Thomson. They were offered a deal for a limited time to get the iPad content for free.  We don’t know how many of the 3,200 folks paid for long-term subscriptions versus trying the app for a month or two.

“‘We chose to create a newspaper-like experience, in part, because we wanted readers to pay for our splendid content,’ Thomson wrote in his memo to staffers.

“‘Media blogs have a tendency not to be overly magnanimous to the Journal, but there is almost unanimity that the Journal’s app is the most sophisticated of its kind,’ he wrote.

“Users reviewing the app in the iTunes store note that they are enjoying the app’s content, but some aren’t impressed with the pricing. ‘Considering the $140 yearly deal for a paper+web subscription, and the occasional $99 offers I get in my postal mail, I think the Journal needs to change its pricing ambitions, like now,’ wrote one.