Technical glitch forces Murdoch to delay iPad newspaper launch

The launch of Rupert Murdoch’s much-heralded iPad newspaper, The Daily, has been delayed because of technical problems.

Mr Murdoch was to unveil the paper in San Francisco next Wednesday alongside his fellow media titan Steve Jobs, co-founder and chief executive of Apple, maker of the iPad. But the event has been postponed following fears of teething problems with the iTunes based subscription service.

News Corp has hired 100 journalists to work on The Daily,which has its headquarters in New York. The product will be exclusively available on iPad and will be a mixture of written and video content. The company is hoping that The Daily will encourage a culture of paying for news in digital formats, in line with its policy of charging for access to the websites of some of its British newspapers.

Wednesday’s launch had been due to take place at San Francisco’s Museum of Modern Art but was postponed by the two companies. News Corp has reportedly earmarked $30m to support The Daily and the delay is expected to be one of weeks rather than months. Mr Murdoch, who turns 80 in March, was recently asked if he would name his “No 1 most exciting project” and responded “Certainly, The Daily.”