Media brands are jumping onto the iPhone. USA Today? There’s an app for that. “The Rachel Maddow Show”? “Entertainment Tonight”? Public radio? Yes, yes and yes, there are apps for those.

Now, if only there were an app that showed media companies how to make money on the iPhone.

For them, the early days of iPhone applications resemble the early days of the Internet. They know they need to have an app for the iPhone, and so they are creating appealing ones that are loaded with features.

“The iPhone has really been a phenomenon, so I think most media brands, at least the national ones, are thinking it’s a place they have to be,” said Matt Jones, vice president for mobile strategy and operations at Gannett Digital-USA Today.

Yet, as with the Web, it is far from clear how much revenue media apps for the iPhone can produce.

“We’re all trying to figure out as we go: is there a subscription model here, is it an advertising model, is there a monthly recurring revenue stream, is it a one-time payment model?” Mr. Jones said. “It’s a very fluid model.”