The Daily was supposed to save the moldering newspaper industry, but based on News Corp. most recent quarterly earnings report, salvation is still a long way off.
The tablet-only newspaper lost $10 million during its first quarter, News Corp. President and COO Chase Carey said on an earnings call with analysts and media Wednesday afternoon. Many of those costs were associated with launching the digital rag.
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On the bright side, however, the company did report 800,000 downloads. Carey refused to break out how many of the publication's readers became full subscribers.
News Corp. had reportedly earmarked $30 million to create The Daily. The initial losses pale in comparison to the $100 million Conde Nast blew on the launch of the now shuttered magazine Portfolio two years ago, as the San Francisco Chronicle notes.
All in all, it was a disappointing quarter for Rupert Murdoch's sprawling media empire, with profits falling 24 percent.