News publishers join Epic Games in asking Apple to take a lower commission on the App Store

Major news publishers are joining the companies including Epic Games and Facebook that are not pleased with Apple’s App Store terms on commissions Apple collects from them. 

DCN (Digital Content Next) which represents New York Times, Bloomberg, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal and other publishers, posted a letter, addressed to Apple CEO Tim Cook, to ask Apple reveal the “conditions” to meet in order to qualify for the arrangement Amazon is receiving for its Amazon Prime Video app in the Apple App Store.

Apple usually takes a %15 – %30 commission from news publishers for the first-time in-app subscriptions however the company has reduced this rate for Amazon. According to the letter, Apple and Amazon agreed on 15% revenue-sharing deal for new customer sign-ups for Prime Video through the App Store. In a House Judiciary Committee hearing, Rep. Hank Johnson asked if the arrangement afforded Amazon is available to any app developers and Tim Cook said it is available to “anyone meeting the conditions. This being the case, Jason Kint, Digital Content Next CEO, asked Tim Cook to define the conditions that Amazon met. 

Nearly all of DCN’s members offer apps in the Apple App Store and many offer subscription-based access to a wide variety of content. The terms of Apple’s unique marketplace greatly impact the ability to continue to invest in high-quality, trusted news and entertainment particularly in competition with other larger firms. In keeping with your statement to the Committee, I ask that you clearly define the conditions that Amazon satisfied for its arrangement so that DCN’s member companies meeting those conditions can be offered the same agreement.

Jason Kint said.