An analysis of publishers’ statements filed with Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed that while some franchise issues, like the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue, are wildly popular with consumers, others are not.
But that shouldn’t de-value the importance of special magazine issues. There’s a great many people who each year look forward to People magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People list, as well as Forbes annual Investment Guide. Instead, magazines should look for ways to tweak their formula to meet the needs of the consumer.
Or, even better, publishers should do what Forbes is doing, making its annual lists of Billionaires, Most Powerful Celebrities, Top Companies to Work For, etc., a true multimedia expe More...
I’m writing a story for the February issue on the division of online labor. I’ve chatted with some companies who are really taking care of back-end Web responsibilities the right way—Time Inc., New York Magazine, Advanstar. I have a feeling though, that most publishers, especially smaller ones, are doing it wrong.
Staffing your technology department can be pricey. Computer guys don’t get paid peanuts. For example, an XML coder can charge $45 to $65 an hour to code content for various digital uses. But it’s important for publishing company owners to face the reality that they are going to have to spend the money on hiring the right people to run their Web sites and e-media properties. That means building a depar More...
OK, so maybe it’s not so new, but have you noticed in the last year or so how the pace has changed? I don’t care if you write for a monthly or even a quarterly magazine—online all the deadlines are daily.
My first job was as an editor of a bi-weekly print newsletter (a nearly defunct business model these days). Most of the editors were recent colleges graduates, working on their own weekly or bi-weekly newsletters. However, the company did offer a daily e-mail newsletter—cutting edge back then—called “Media Daily” written by two editors who were there well before 9 and long after 5. We soft print editors would shake our heads in awe at the pace.
That seems almost laughable today, when putting out a daily ne More...
I’m writing a story for the February issue on writer’s contracts and how magazine editors are setting them up in light of online’s growing influence. Contracts, and how the magazine’s – or Web site’s – use of content plays out are an interesting reflection of where the industry is pursuing their product opportunities – or should be. The models are varied – some publishers have retained separate online content producers, while others combine print and online editorial production teams. Consider MacWorld, which test-drives some if its content online before it makes it into the print title. (Kind of like what I’m doing here, to a lesser degree, for a story that’s scheduled for February.)
But it’s more than tha More...
Whatever the right formula is for attracting and keeping a fickle teenage audience, Teen Vogue seems to have found it. At a time when teenagers are turning to the Web for most of their news and information, Teen Vogue continues to find success with both readers and advertisers.
According to the latest Publishers Information Bureau statistics, Teen Vogue increased ad revenues in 2006 by 31.1 percent to just under $101.83 million, up from $77.67 million in 2005. Pages-in-book for the teen title increased 22.3 percent to 1,223.44, from 1,000.36 in 2005.
The publication, which turns four in February, also increased its rate base in October of last year from 850,000 to 900,000 – its third rate base increase since its l More...
Being the reality-TV junkie I am, I couldn’t help but notice the abundance of cable TV programs that have partnerships with consumer magazines. Networks like Bravo, which teams up with Cooking Light and Conde Nast’s ELLE for hit reality shows “Top Chef” and “Project Runway,” generate unprecedented PR for the magazines that are featured on the programs.
“The Hills,” an MTV reality spin-off of the hugely popular “Laguna Beach,” follows the life of main “character” Lauren Conrad as she interns at Teen Vogue in Los Angeles. And the network’s latest reality installment, which debuted last Sunday, “I’m From Rolling Stone,” has Yann Wenner’s face on overdrive across numerous ads and promotions.
Just got back from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Normally, I’d say that the CES event is a bit far afield for Folio: Magazine, what with all the booths offering iPod aftermarket products and so on.
But Aspire Media’s Clay Hall, a magazine-industry CEO with vision, convened a group of enthusiast and b-to-b publishers to discuss exactly what the CES represents for our future as print publishers.
I have to tell you: The show itself was totally overwhelming. Both of two convention centers were packed with exhibits. It’s really several shows in one. Everything from geeky computer technology to plastic gadgets to camera gear was represented. There were toys, and ubiquitous cell-phone items. They offered TV on More...
Private equity investors are chomping at the bit for more M&A action in 2007 after making headlines in 2006 as the new media M&A rainmakers. Indeed, private equity players are making a splash across many markets, not just magazines and media. Even as small to mid-sized companies are bought out and rolled up into operating platforms, large public companies are taking advantage of the active market to go private – to find relief from Sarbanes-Oxley, among other motivators.
But even as the reporting continues to examine private equity’s boom, there’s a building undercurrent of speculation on when the good times will end. At ABM’s Top Management Meeting in Chicago last November, bankers were marveling out one side of t More...
A Folio: and Readex survey conducted last year showed that print remains the dominant revenue stream for publishers. That’s in spite of the fact that print advertising is declining and both readers and advertisers are flocking to the Web. Much of the problem stems not from a lack of investment in online media, but from a lack of understanding on the part of publishers on how to monetize their Web properties.
The issue is two-fold. For one, setting print advertising rates is second nature in the publishing industry and is often done using a rate base or by using paid or controlled circulation models. But setting advertising rates online is more difficult and publishers often find themselves with the quandary of whether to set More...
Seventeen has finally found someone to replace Atoosa Rubenstein, the former editor in chief of the Hearst teen mag who quit in November to launch her own teen-centered Web business, write a book and start a consultancy specializing in the youth market. After several months and plenty of gossip surrounding the search for a replacement, CosmoGirl executive editor Ann Shoket has been selected to assume the role of filling Rubenstein’s shoes.
Although Rubenstein received a lot of flack during her three years as editor for her Today Show-MTV-talking head-My Space enthusiast-Spice Girl image, I think Shoket should strive to be like her predecessor. As the editor of Seventeen magazine, it is Shoket’s job to be a role mode More...
Do publishing brands these days seem a little confusing? Maybe it’s because of all the consolidation in the marketplace and the need to start fresh. Maybe it’s because of the rise in e-publishing and the need to convey a sense of “new media.”
Numbers are big with publishing brands today. From 1105 Media (formerly 101 Communications) to 8020 Publishing, publishers are opting for a number as part of or even in place of a name. We’re no different: the magazine we originally launched to compete with Folio: was called M10 Report and our company name is Red 7 Media.
What’s the significance of your brand? Many city and regional magazines have taken their telephone area codes as their names, (such as 417 in Missouri). More...
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Bill Mickey emedia and Technology - 01/22/2007-03:00 AMInteresting blog commentary and reporting out there recently involving Gawker Media and Weblogs, Inc. -- networks started by Nick Denton and Jason Calacanis that share a famous rivalry. The upshot? How both of these early movers in blog network business models are suffering old-media growing pains. It’s an art-imitating-life moment.
Valleywag, a Gawker Media blog, is reporting that AOL, which bought Calacanis’ Weblogs Inc. in 2005 as the first major blog M&A transaction for an estimated $25 million, is shutting down a collection of its smaller blog sites to focus attention on bigger revenue bread-winners like Engadget, Autoblog and Joystiq. Calacanis points out in a comment reply to the Valleywag post that “Niche blogs More...