FOLIO: Personalities -- The Blog People Page
Are Media M&A Reports Just a Bunch of Self-Serving Fluff?
Jason Fell
Two of the media industry’s biggest investment banks/deal brokers put out reports in recent weeks, looking back at the mergers and acquisitions that have been announced over last six months. According to the report from Berkery Noyes—which was released this week and analyzes merger and acquisition activity of private equity companies in the Information Industry—while total aggregate transaction value decreased by 9 percent to $13.54 billion during the first six months compared to the second half last year, the total number of transactions (143) increased 22 percent.
The first half report from the Jordan, Edmiston Group—which tr More...
Newspaper Magazines Get Nod as Best Launches
Jason Fell
I was looking over Samir “Mr. Magazine” Husni’s report this week on new magazine launches during the first half of 2010 (there were 56, he says) when I clicked through to another of his recent posts—his list of the 25 most notable launches over the last 25 years. Appropriately, 25 magazines made his list.
More...
‘Social Media Doesn't Work Very Well Without Good, Consistent Content’
Jason Fell
The Online Publishers Association yesterday released some topline results from a new research study called “A Sense of Place: Why Environments Matter.” Conducted by Harris Interactive, the study examined how consumers perceive content in different online environments, and whether those perceptions impact consumer responsiveness to advertising. Harris polled more than 2,900 adult U.S.-based online consumers about their perceptions about three environments: media properties (such as ESPN.com, NYTimes.com, etc.), portal channels (i.e. AOL News, MSN Money) and social networks (Facebook, MySpace, et al.).
What I found least interest More...
Overheard at the FOLIO: Show
Jason Fell
The following are quotes from various sessions, keynotes and elsewhere during the 2010 FOLIO: Show, which took place this week in New York City. Below that is a collection of tweets from attendees about the show.
Quotes from the Show:
“If you’re not actively thinking about creatively destructing your brand then someone else will.” – David Nussbaum, chairman and CEO, F+W Media
“Invest in technology? That’s a terrible idea.” – Jason Brightman, director of Web design at IDG’s PC World and Macworld, on how technology evolves so quickly (the better More...
Video: FOLIO: Shoots Up Field & Stream
Jason Fell
They asked. We delivered.
The cover of the July issue of Field & Stream [pictured right, on the left] reads “Shoot this magazine!” Inside is a pull out that features an “I (Heart) Guns” image [on the right] that is made up of mini targets.
The cover is part of a promotion for a new Outdoor Channel television program based on Gun Nuts, Field & Stream’s popular online blog. The show appropriately stars the magazine’s two gun editors: David E. Petza (rifles) and Philip Bourjaily (shotguns). According to a New York Times More...
Time Inc. is Really, Really Excited About Tablets
Jason Fell
Magazine publishers are jumping on the Apple iPad app bandwagon in droves and arguably for good reason. It’s a sleek, nifty device that not only has captured the attention and imagination (and dollars) of consumers but also is a vibrant new platform for distributing content.
At Time Inc.—which already has launched apps for Time and Entertainment Weekly—the vibe among upper management is of sheer enthusiasm. By upper management, I’m referring specifically to CEO Ann Moore.
During parent company Time Warner’s “Investor Day” Thursday, Moore updated attendees on the division’s recent performance (it More...
Media’s Ad/Edit Relationship Is Getting Increasingly More Hazy
Jason Fell
A content producer—whether a magazine editor or a network producer—would like to believe that the content they create can be distributed to consumers without input or intrusion from the advertising side of the business. It’s the great ethical ad/edit divide that our collective media industry has lived and died by for years.
But that immovable boundary has in fact shifted. Examples have trickled out over the years, most recently with magazines like ESPN the Magazine, Entertainment Weekly and Scholastic Parent & Child featuring ads on their covers. Now comes a More...
Give Me Money, Please
Jason Fell
$40 would buy a pizza and a cheap bottle of wine for me to share with my girlfriend.
$150 would buy a bigger LCD monitor for our new Canon HD videocam.
$300 would buy the roundtrip airfare I recently booked to Puerto Rico (I found a great deal).
$850 would set me up for a good weekend at the casino.
Wishing people would donate money to me? Priceless.
OK, enough about me. The Nation apparently is having a rough go in this “hostile” publishing environment. According to a note from Washington editor Christopher Hayes, the left-leaning political magazine More...
The Wrap Asks: Is the Media Rebound for Real?
Jason Fell
The Wrap's media columnist and former FOLIO: digital editor Dylan Stableford put together a feature this week that takes a look at the advertising uptick being seen across media right now. He notes that a number of major media players like News Corp. and Time Warner have reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings.
But while the ad market is indeed showing signs of strength across several sectors (thank goodness), Stableford polls a number of media types (myself included) about whether what we’re experiencing might be a full-blown recovery or just the beginning of one. A More...
Jet Publisher: ‘We Had to Completely Rethink’ Distribution Beyond Print
Jason FellAs part of a bigger initiative to reposition Ebony and Jet beyond just their printed magazines, Johnson Publishing has launched MYJET247.com. The site is constructed around eight topic verticals, including Jet Buzz, Jet Beauty, Jet Love, Jet Connect, Jet Perspective, Jet Style, Jet Music and Jet Video.
And to really make sure that you know that the Jet brand is more than just that struggling print product, Johnson headed into the production studio (and tapped celebrities like actress/singer Brandy and Trey Songz) to put together this slick video press release:
Who Would Buy Newsweek?
Jason Fell
After years of hefty losses, the Washington Post Company Wednesday said it had hired media and entertainment investment bankers Allen & Company to explore a sale of ailing Newsweek magazine.
What does the market look like for a sale of Newsweek, a magazine that has been losing millions of dollars year-after-year? In 2009, Washington Post Co.’s magazine division, (which also included Budget Travel, until it sold in December) reported an operating loss of $29.3 million. “The losses at Newsweek in 2007 to 2009 are a matter of record,” Washington Post C More...
FOLIO: PRIME SPONSORS
Celebrity Magazines See Big Advertising Resurgence
Jason Fell Consumer - 07/12/2010-15:44 PMWhew!
After a tumultuous 2009, during which a measly 18 consumer magazines grew their advertising pages in the face of the economic downturn, the first half of 2010 is shaping up exceedingly more positive. According to the Publishers Information Bureau’s second quarter and first half magazine advertising reports, a whopping 130 titles increased ad pages during the second quarter. The three-month period marked the first time in nine long, hard quarters, that consumer magazines reported gains in both rate More...