• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, May 30, 2013

Digital Mags Preferred By 25% Of Tablet Owners 

Digital magazines are increasingly popular with tablet owners. Overall, 26% of tablet owners said they prefer the tablet versions of magazines over print versions.

According to a new survey of 1,293 tablet owners by the Mequoda Group, a digital publishing consultancy,  that proportion will increase to 65% by 2020. That said, the engagement numbers are currently still rather modest: 13% of tablet owners said they have bought a digital magazine (either single copy or subscription) in the last 30 days, and just 6% said they read a digital magazine on their tablet every day -- rising to 23% who read a digital magazine at least once a month.
 
Turning to general findings, Mequoda found that tablet penetration is growing fast, with 55% of Internet users surveyed by Mequoda saying they own a tablet. Among tablet owners, iPad is still the clear leader, with a 62% share, followed by Amazon’s Kindle Fire with a 26% share. Android devices lag behind with a combined total of less than 20%.
 
With regard to behaviors, 65% of tablet owners said they access the Web on their device every day, while 62% said they read email and 44% said they check Facebook daily. Forty-three percent play games and 33% read the news on their device. Tablet owners are also spending a fair amount of money with their tablets, with 39% saying they have spent over $100 on their tablet in the last 12 months, and 4.5% said they have spent more than $500 in that period.
 
Rashbass Leaves Economist Group
 
Andrew Rashbass is stepping down as CEO of the Economist Group in order to take the new role of CEO at Reuters. Rashbass has been the CEO of the Economist Group since 2008; before that, he served as the managing director of Economist.com and publisher of The Economist.
 
Huff to Head Dwell Digital Ops
 
Brandon Huff has been appointed executive vice president of digital for Dwell Media, where he will be responsible for initiatives such as the company's new e-commerce unit, which is set to launch in 2014. He is also planning to roll out native advertising, according to Folio. Huff previously served as vice president of commerce for Yahoo; overall he has a decade of experience monetizing digital content.
 
Time Inc. Branded Solutions Taps Kirwan for VP, Digital Sales
 
Tom Kirwan is joining Time Inc. Branded Solutions, Time Inc.’s corporate ad sales division, as vice president for digital sales. Kirwan previously served as associate publisher of Time Inc.’s Style & Entertainment group and national sales director for People Digital, where he led the development and execution of cross-brand digital and mobile advertising for People.com, EW.com, InStyle.com, Essence.com and PeopleenEspanol.com. Kirwan joined Time Inc. in 2008 as national director of digital sales for EW.com. 
 
Outside Names Heil Online Editorial Director
 
Nick Heil has been named online editorial director for Outside Online, based in the company’s Santa Fe office. He most recently served as contributing editor for Outside, and as a freelance journalist has contributed to publications including Men’s Journal, The Daily Beast, Skiing and Backpacker. He previously served as senior editor of Outside from 1999-2006. He is also the author of "Dark Summit: The True Story of Everest’s Most Controversial Season."

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