Hearst reaches deal with Apple to offer iPad in app subscriptions by July

The announcement, reported by the Wall Street Journal, notes that Hearst will initially make three of its iPad magazines available via in app subscriptions starting in July : Esquire, Popular Mechanics and O, The Oprah Magazine.

The magazines will be priced at $1.99 per monthly issue or $19.99 for a year long subscription. Hearst said it plans to follow its initial offerings with subscription newspaper apps and other content.

A variety of publishers initially expressed disappointment with Apple's subscription terms for iPad in app content, ostensibly because Apple sought to charge the same 30 percent cut for subscriptions that it charges for other App Store sales.

However, among publishers the major complaint has been that Apple has insisted upon allowing users to opt out of sending their valuable demographic information to publishers when they subscribe.

The report noted that "Over the course of recent talks with Apple, however, publishers have become more comfortable with the terms under which their titles will be sold in the App Store, according to people familiar with the talks."

Apple has recently added a variety of significant publishers to its in app subscription program, including the new Blooomberg BusinessWeek and a variety of magazines by Time Warner.

Time Warner recently reached a deal with Apple to allow its print subscribers to obtain iPad editions without paying for them separately, indicating that both sides are making concessions aimed at getting content to the audience of iPad users.