• by Steve Smith  @popeyesm, March 8, 2012

Hearst magazines announced this week that one of its most successful draws on the real-world newsstand, Cosmopolitan, is having similar success on the virtual newsstands on mobile devices. The company reports that the brand has exceeded 100,000 paid digital subscribers across Apple iPad, Amazon Kindle Fire, Barnes & Noble Nook and Zinio distribution channels.

Unlike some publishers, Hearst does not bundle a digital version in with its print subscription, so that 100,000 represents people who have subscribed specifically to the digital Cosmo experience. In the Apple iTunes App Store, Cosmo is currently ranked as the second top-grossing app in the Lifestyle section, ahead of Martha Stewart Living’s digital edition and O: The Oprah Magazine, which is also from Hearst.

Hearst says that digital editions of Cosmo have been available since 2005 when the brand joined the Zinio platform, which generally reproduces print versions with some digital enhancements. “We always have been bullish about the viability of digital magazines, and Cosmopolitan’s success in this space underscores the power of this channel,” says Hearst App Lab VP Chris Wilkes in a statement.

Hearst claims that it has sold more than 500,000 digital subscriptions across platforms so far. In addition to digital versions of O magazine, Esquire and others, Hearst is also experimenting with digital-only projects like the CFG: Cosmo for Guys app on the iPad. Hearst President David Carey said in the announcement that these are the kinds of tests the device platforms allow Hearst to make with minimal capital investment.

Getting subscribers is just the first phase of an extended uphill slog that print publishers have toward building sustainable business models in the post-PC era. Despite the hype surrounding tablets and some signs of consumer enthusiasm, advertising to device versions of magazines has been slow in coming as media buyers at MediaPost’s recent Tablet Revolution event discussed most frankly.

MediaVest’s Robin Steinberg and Targetcast’s Audrey Siegel both argued that magazine companies have been slow to report metrics from their magazine apps and to come together over common ad formats and business models. Steinberg said the device platforms are fine for one-off campaigns “for a specific reason, for a specialized audience.” Nevertheless, she argued, “there is nothing compelling about it that makes me tell a client ‘you need to do it.’”