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Murdoch's 'The Daily' to shut down

News Corp. announced today that 'The Daily,' the iPad-only paper Murdoch launced in Feb. 2011, will shut down this month.

Jesse Angelo, the founding editor-in-chief of The Daily and ex-executive editor of The New York Post, will become publisher of the Post. "Technology and other assets from The Daily, including some staff, will be folded into The Post," according to a News Corp. press release.

"From its launch, The Daily was a bold experiment in digital publishing and an amazing vehicle for innovation. 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. Therefore we will take the very best of what we have learned at The Daily and apply it to all our properties," News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch said in a statement. "Under the editorial leadership of Editor-in-Chief Col Allan and the business and digital leadership of Jesse, 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.”

(Also on POLITICO: 15 explosive Rupert Murdoch tweets)

In mid-July, amid longstanding financial struggles, rumors circulated that Murdoch had put The Daily "on watch." Three weeks later, 'The Daily' fired 50 of its 170 employees, though Angelo sought to reassure staff that the necessary changes would "make our business stronger."

In a memo to staff today, Angelo and publisher Greg Clayman said that despite "great original reporting, excellent design, and custom interactivity... unfortunately we have not been able to build a big enough audience fast enough to make our business model work."

"As part of the reorganization, News Corp will look to take the best of what we have done at The Daily and the lessons we have learned, and apply it to our other publishing properties," the wrote. "Some of our assets, technology and personnel, will be absorbed into the New York Post and all full-time staff will have the opportunity to take advantage of various benefits to assist with the transition away from The Daily, including three additional months of pay."

The final issue will be published on the iPad on Dec. 15.

The news was announced in a larger News Corp. memo confirming the news first reported by Reuters late Friday night that Robert Thomson, Dow Jones editor-in-chief and managing editor of The Wall Street Journal, will become the CEO of News Corp's new publishing company.