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Second Half Magazine and Media Industry Predictions

Dylan Stableford — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:58:04 -0400

Layoffs. Lawsuits. Shutterings. Salary freezes. Ad page declines. Budget reforecasts and slashings. Abrupt resignations. Oh, and that whole recession thing.

Publishers Hoarding Paper Drive Up Second-Half Demand

Jason Fell — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:48:32 -0400

It’s an odd time for the paper market. Real demand for paper should be down—maybe way down. After all, folio sizes are reduced across the magazine industry, ad pages are down, there are fewer new magazines being launched, and readers and advertisers are migrating to the Internet.

Hearst, IDG Partner to Buy Chinese Tech Site

Jason Fell — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 10:10:43 -0400

Hearst Business Media and IDG have partnered in the acquisition of ee365.cn, a news and technology Web site targeting Chinese engineers. China’s Publishing House of Electronic Industry also was involved in the partnership. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

An Interview with the Dudes Behind MagCloud

Dylan Stableford — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 17:04:43 -0400

Is print-on-demand really the ‘future of magazine publishing’?

Cygnus Sale Looming?

Jason Fell — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:47:25 -0400

Talk abounds about potential buyer, process moving toward due diligence.

The Jackass Journo at the Junket

Dylan Stableford — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 16:14:39 -0400

Just because you’re being catered to doesn’t mean you have to behave like Johnny Knoxville.

Trade Publisher Acquires Gourmet Foods Publication

Jason Fell — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:49:50 -0400

Trade show daily, trade journal and magazine publisher Oser Communications has acquired United Publications Inc.'s Gourmet News, a newspaper serving the gourmet foods industry. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. United Publications also publishes Restaurant Daily News and Food Equipment News.

Boston Ventures Acquires Oakstone Publishing

Joanna Pettas — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 15:48:38 -0400

Private equity firm Boston Ventures has acquired Oakstone Publishing from parent company Haights Cross Communications. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Ex-Wired Editor: 'Whoever Has the Smartest Customers Wins'

Joanna Pettas — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 14:43:42 -0400

Bookish wisdom.

Another Threat for B-to-B Publishers: Newspaper Beat Reporters

Joanna Pettas — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 13:57:13 -0400

One more Web-based competitor to worry about.

The Future of Magazine Publishing? It’s Here—Sort Of

Dylan Stableford — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:17:26 -0400

If you can make a PDF, you can now publish a magazine.

Facing Mounting Criticism, ‘Buy Safe’ Organizers Defend Campaign

Dylan Stableford — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 12:13:17 -0400

Buy Safe Media, the BPA and ABC-backed campaign warning marketers against buying ads in non-audited b-to-b publications, has faced unusually harsh criticism since its launch last week.

The Fine Line Between Clever and Stupid

Joanna Pettas — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 10:43:30 -0400

Design Review: Fast Thinking.

Hearst Shutters Quick & Simple

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:48:27 -0400

Hearst Magazines announced that it will shutter Quick & Simple, its three-year-old women’s weekly. The shuttering is effective with the July 29 issue currently on newsstands.

Your Next Generation Web Site

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:29:50 -0400

The explosion of the Internet and its availability on various types of devices has established a new reality in the magazine industry.

Working With Online Subscription Agencies

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:05:36 -0400

With the Cost of acquiring and re-qualifying subscriptions continually rising, publishers need to generate business from new, reasonably priced sources. Increasingly, that means online subscription agencies. “Online subscription-generation Web sites are absolutely a new source for us,” says Terri Smith, director of circulation at Branch Smith Publishing.

New York Editor on Founder's Passing: 'American Journalism Wouldn't Be What It is Today'

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 17:01:35 -0400

Moss, others on Felker.

Magazine Pioneer Dies

Dave Iannone — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:59:55 -0400

UPDATE: Editor Adam Moss on Felker

So, You've Been 'Optimized' Off the Schedule

Joanna Pettas — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:35:10 -0400

Has this happened to you?

Section Six: Projecting ROI

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:18:45 -0400

One of the great advantages of Internet media is the vastly superior ability to measure. You can measure everything: Traffic, visits, uniques, impressions, and more. You can track ad performance, stories read, visits from Russia, if you like. You can develop circulation, register attendees to events, capture names for marketing, capture leads for advertisers.

Section Five: Setting a Budget

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:15:00 -0400

Budgeting obviously is a crucial part of taking your Web site to the next level. As noted earlier, the results of the FOLIO: research report reveal that more than half of the magazine-industry professionals surveyed (56 percent) cited “too little investment” as the biggest mistake most commonly made during the planning stage of creating a digital product. [See chart 16].

Section Four: Evaluating Staffing Needs and Whether to Hire Within or Outsource

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 14:12:31 -0400

While planning is probably the most crucial step necessary prior to launch, the staff—edit, design, project management, sales, Web development—you hire or retrain for your magazine’s online property is nearly as critical.

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Set to Launch

Joanna Pettas — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 13:49:56 -0400

The Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate franchise—first announced in October 2007—is set to launch at the end of this month.

Section Three: Evaluating the Applications, Features and Software You Need

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:36:10 -0400

Once you’ve identified the revenue opportunity and the features you’re going to add, you need to drill down some more and evaluate the features and costs and competing products.

M&A Scorecard | July 2008

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:31:33 -0400

Despite the continued soft economy and questionable credit market, recent weeks have been sprinkled with a number of smaller, more niche-market deals. The bigger news was that Texas-based Austin Partners was said to be the majority buyer of Entrepreneur Media and that Cygnus Business Media is “exploring” its options, which could mean a potential sale.

Section Two: Projecting the Revenue Opportunity

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:26:19 -0400

In planning and building your Web site, you’ve determined how to generate traffic and sustain interest. Now the key task at hand is to turn that Web traffic into revenue. Can you sell Webinars? Are job boards your big opportunity? If you create a content-rich “institute,” with paid access, how much revenue will you generate?

First Half Media Deal Values Plummet 65 Percent

Jason Fell — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:20:53 -0400

Online media and technology, and marketing and interactive, remained the two “bright spots” in an otherwise “cloudy” media M&A market for the first half of 2008, according to the Jordan Edmiston Group’s first half overview, released today.

Section One: Setting Objectives

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:15:53 -0400

When it comes to creating a digital presence for your print title, your future success largely hinges on your planning. It’s useful to take a step back and look at the historical pattern (if you can call a 13-year-old phenomenon “historical”).

2008 Regional Magazine Survey

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:57:11 -0400

Spurred by a low barrier to entry—including low-cost self-publishing systems and, in many cases, door-to-door distribution—the city and regional magazine category continues to grow, with not just cities but even regions and small towns supporting multiple titles vying for the same readership and often the same ad dollars.

“My Ad Didn’t Work, You Suck”

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:53:38 -0400

Second to hearing nothing at all, the last thing you want to hear from your client, as an ad sales person, is something along the line of “my ad didn’t work, you suck.” If you’re hearing this from your customers, then you need a new strategy fast.

The Back-End of the Web

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:44:47 -0400

These days everyone is looking for back-end technology that handles all aspects of the business, from ad insertions to billing, with the look and feel of the most popular social media. If not a one-system-does-all solution, then something pretty close. Enterprise content management has grown to be a big business.

Social Networking: Here to Stay

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:30:49 -0400

If you publish a magazine, there’s little doubt that you’ve developed a digital strategy. At first, publishers just loaded up the print magazine on the Web and mistakenly thought that they had one.

Are User-Generated Issues Worth It?

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:18:53 -0400

For its 10th anniversary issue in June, Budget Travel solicited some 2,800 pitches from readers, using them to generate all of the text and photography to create a 100 percent user-generated issue of the magazine.

Penton Credit Rating Revised

Jason Fell — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:14:53 -0400

A little more than a month after Penton Media called for a salary and hiring freeze, and launched a company-wide revenue reforecasting, Standard & Poors has removed the b-to-b publisher from its Credi

Covert Charges

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:07:37 -0400

A few seasons back, while doing research for a magazine story on the literary establishment in Boston, I hooked up a recorder to my phone line and called George V. Higgins. “Do you have a few minutes to talk?” I asked the late, great novelist.

Event Planning in a Tight Market

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:02:03 -0400

Soaring gas prices, airfare and hotel rates are now affecting one of the largest growth areas for publishers: magazine events. While American Business Media says events have eclipsed print as the largest revenue stream for its members, skyrocketing travel costs could dampen the party for both b-to-b and consumer publishers.

Face Up: OnEarth

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:43:36 -0400

Issue: SummerFrequency: QuarterlyLaunched: 1979Circ: 175,000Editor: Douglas BaraschPublishing Company: The Natural Resources Defense CouncilArt Director: Gail Ghezzi

The One-Man (or Woman) Art Department

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 10:34:06 -0400

If you’re the whole of a one-person art department—or even just part of a very small team—you know what it’s like: you’re busy laying out every department and feature while arranging photo shoots; sourcing clip art; hiring illustrators; balancing the budget; working on collateral, suppleme

From Editor to ‘Content Strategist’

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:55:35 -0400

At the FOLIO: Publishing Summit earlier this year, Meredith Publishing Group president Jack Griffin said, “We don’t hire editors anymore, we hire content strategists.” He was referring to Meredith seeking out editors who aren’t simply about putting words on page but driving a multimedia editorial strategy.

Turn and Burn or Passing the Torch?

Dylan Stableford — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 09:45:26 -0400

While no one wanted to admit that the market at the time was in a state of recession, the consensus among speakers and attendees at DeSilva + Phillips’ annual Dealmakers Summit earlier this year in New York was that the economy would get worse before it got better. They were right.

AMI Reports 4 Percent Revenue Bump

Jason Fell — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 17:01:40 -0400

American Media Inc., a company which until recently had difficulty filing its financials on time, today announced its fiscal 2008 revenues were $491 million, up about 4 percent over 2007. Operating income was $67 million, as compared to a $254 million loss over 2007.

Harper's Bazaar Loves Advertisers So Much, It Devotes 40 Editorial Pages to Them

Dylan Stableford — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 16:03:33 -0400

No Swarovski crystals this time, but just as slippery a slope.

R.R. Donnelley Settles Labor Complaint

Jason Fell — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 15:16:08 -0400

R.R. Donnelley has settled a dispute with an Illinois-based workers union over charges that the printer allegedly spied on employees and threatened them in retaliation for organizing with teamsters. A Donnelley spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.

Latin Finance Magazine Rides Controversy to Coup

Joanna Pettas — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:59:42 -0400

Posts bank president’s remarks on site, issues press release, drives traffic.

Is Martha Cooked?

Dylan Stableford — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 14:53:09 -0400

Did Susan Lyne’s exit reveal a crack in MSLO’s well-decorated wall?

U.S. Ad Spending Forecast Downgraded Again

Dylan Stableford — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 11:35:36 -0400

A leading media buyer has downgraded its growth forecast for advertising spending in the U.S. to 3.5 percent. ZenithOptimedia, which is owned Publicis Groupe, had already rolled back its initial growth forecast for 2008 from 4.1 percent to 3.7 percent in March.

The Mother of All Online Magazine Games

Dylan Stableford — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 09:33:57 -0400

National Geographic
proves: the less generic the better.

People on the Move | 07.03.08

Jason Fell — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 01:14:25 -0400

Meredith Corp.

UPDATE: Indie Magazine Asks Readers for $20,000 by July 1

Jason Fell — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 17:24:45 -0400

Or it ‘will die.’

Are Free Magazines the Future of Publishing?

Dylan Stableford — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:58:38 -0400

Will consumer go controlled?