December closure date for The Daily

Rupert Murdoch will shut iPad newspaper The Daily next week due to annual losses of $30m and a failure to secure enough subscribers.

The News Corporation head made the decision after only receiving 100,000 subs on top of crippling losses, with the closure effective from December 15.

Lasting 21 months, The Daily was unveiled amidst much publicity in February 2011, but has failed to meet expectations according to Murdoch in an email to founding editor-in-chief Jesse Angelo.

"From its launch, The Daily was a bold experiment in digital publishing and an amazing vehicle for innovation," Murdoch said.

"Unfortunately, our experience was that we could not find a large enough audience quickly enough to convince us the business model was sustainable in the long-term.

"We will take the very best of what we have learned at The Daily and apply it to all our properties.

"I know The New York Post will continue to grow and become stronger on the web, on mobile, and not least, the paper itself.

"I want to thank all of the journalists, digital and business professionals for the hard work they put into The Daily."

Charging $0.99 per week or $39.99 annually, Murdoch acknowledged that to break even, The Daily would need to hit at least 500,000 subs per year.

At the time of the unveiling Murdoch announced The Daily as the company's "big bet" according to The Guardian newspaper, which reported:

"New times require new journalism," Murdoch said last year.

"The challenge is to take best of traditional journalism and combine with best of contemporary technology."

Yet less than two years on the venture will be closed, with publisher Greg Clayman overseeing the company's strategy on a global basis.

Did you subscribe to The Daily? Tell us your thoughts on why it failed below