December 2011
2 posts
5 tags
Hearst Magazines Projected to Hit 1M Digital...
CNET reported yesterday that Hearst Magazine President David Carey said that he expects to reach a million digital subscribers by the end of 2012, due in large part to the success of Apple’s iPad and the ease of the new-to-iOS 5 Newsstand. Hearst initially resisted selling its titles on the iPad, insisting Apple’s revenue cut was too big. Now it seems that both companies are benefitting.
Hearst...
3 tags
Time Inc. is in the Lead
Time Inc., with a collective readership of over 114 million readers, has the largest crossover of included publishers, Folio reported yesterday. Its 18 brands are read in both print and digital forms by 30% of its demographic, 55% only use its print products, while 15% digitally access Time Inc. content.
These findings, from Affinity’s recent American Magazine Study, were part of a larger study...
November 2011
8 posts
6 tags
Digital Ad Revenue Exceeds Print Revenue at The...
This past October, The Atlantic took the bulk of its advertising revenue from online sources when for the first time the magazine’s digital advertising revenue exceeded its print revenue. The New York Times’ Jeremy Peters reported that publishing industry executives said they were not aware of any examples of a brand as prominent as The Atlantic achieving such a rare transition.
The publisher of...
3 tags
13 Ways to Jumpstart Digital Revenue
Folio reported earlier this month on the Digital Summit at the Grand Hyatt in New York City, where three digital publishing executives offered their insights into social sharing tips, sponsored apps and more. The three executives were John Haskin, VP digital sales and marketing with Bonnier; SVP/GM digital food platform at Meredith Dan Hickey; and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia’s SVP of digital...
2 tags
Zines!
Mini-magazines known as “Zines” are making a comeback from the 1930s, when the emerged among fans of science fiction and from informal, and in the 60’s from underground publications that focused on social and political activism. Zines are generally made by hand and are available only in small quantities, though they are now talked about, distributed or sold on the Web as well. The quirky...
5 tags
Magazine Audience is Still Primarily in Print
Folio reported yesterday that adults who read magazines on digital playforms (including desktop/laptop computers, tablets, e-readers and smartphones) make up 11% of gross magazine audience impressions. The print-only audience still supplies the largest sector of magazine reader exposures at 1.278 billion. Out of 1.6 billion magazine impressions, digital-only consumers contribute 166 million. ...
5 tags
Condé Nast Magazines to Grow on Digital Platforms
According to a report on MediaBeat, Condé Nast announced today that its entire digital magazine collection would be available on Barnes and Noble’s Nook Tablet and Nook Color. Customers will be able to purchase single issues and/or monthly subscriptions through the Nook’s Newsstand, while print subscribers will continue to have free access to the digital versions. Condé Nast’s success with sales...
4 tags
Over 3 Million follow PEOPLE
Early last week, People announced that they were the first magazine brand to surpass 3 million followers on twitter.
1.3 million follow People on facebook, one of the largest fan-bases of any magazine on the platform. Webwire reported that Janice Morris, managing editor of People Digital, stated: “We’re excited to announce that we’ve hit the three million follower milestone...
4 tags
Amazon Updates
Today TIME Entertainment reported that “Amazon Makes Like a Publisher With Kindle Singles.” Andrea Sachs writes:
In January, Amazon.com, the world’s largest online bookseller, launched its Kindle Singles sales campaign. The mini-eBooks were specifically designed for the company;s popular eReader and apps, and each is comprised of what Amazon describes as”a single killer...
6 tags
Should Subscribers Receive Digital Magazines for...
Yesterday ZDNet reported that as more tablets and digital platforms evolve, the question of whether or not to charge print subscribers for access to digital publications has become critical to the industry.
Hearst charges for digital and print subscriptions separately, while Conde Nast and Time Inc. are offering digital copies of their magazines on the iPad for free to print subscribers. These...
October 2011
13 posts
4 tags
Rachel Ray Magazine Skips an Issue
Yesterday the New York Times reported that Rachel Ray magazine sent a letter to its subscribers saying that the issue would count as two issues toward their annual subscription. The magazine hasn’t announced that it will be publishing fewer, larger issues, or cutting down on its subscription price – just cutting down on this year’s number of publications, angering many of its readers. A typical...
3 tags
Ad Revenue Drops in 1Q at Meredith Corp.
According to an update published by MSNBC, Meredith Corp. said last Wednesday that its fiscal first-quarter net income declined as advertising revenue fell. Advertising revenue fell 10% to $184.3 million from $204.8 million. Circulation revenue edged up 1% to $66.6 million.
The company is publisher of Better Homes and Gardens, Family Circle, Parents and Fitness magazines. They reported...
3 tags
Newsstand
Since Apple launched its iOS5 feature Newsstand Oct. 12, magazine and newspaper publishers have seen significant increases in their digital subscriptions. Meredith Corp.’s Better Homes and Gardens, Parents and Fitness magazines were recently added, as well as Bonnier’s Popular Science and Popular Photography. While there are no figures available for these recent additions, The New York Times...
2 tags
The Economist Acknowledges Major Business Error
According to Folio and a variety of other reports, The Economist has accidentally been providing free content to some of its online users by mistake (does anyone else see the irony here?!). It is unknown exactly how many readers have been receiving this content, however, already some readers have reported that they have been receiving free content for as long as five years. News of the error was...
4 tags
Condé Nast To Shut Down 4 Magazines, Including...
Condé Nast announced earlier this month that it would discontinue 4 magazines: Gourmet, Cookie, Elegant Bride and Modern Bride. The company chose Bon Appétit over Gourmet, of which NY Times reporter Stephanie Clifford wrote, “reflected a bigger shift both inside and outside the company: influence, and spending power, now lies with the middle class.” The luxurious nature of the magazine has made...
3 tags
Predicted 20% Loss of Magazine Paper Use Over the...
According to a report recently released by Folio, statistics from RISI (a forest products industry information provider), indicate that magazine companies will be forced to cut back on paper use by at least 20% over the course of the next 5 years due to expansion of digital magazines. The article reports that over the next 15 years, usage will rapidly decline to as much as 40-50% less. There are...
4 tags
An Update on Advertising Spending
According to a report by Kantar Media, total advertising expenditure has increased since last year by 3.2% in the first six months of 2011, reaching $71.5 billion. This growth did however slow from the first to the second quarter, and spending in the 2nd quarter was up 2.8% versus the same period last year. Magazine media rose 2.9% in the first half of this year compared to the first half of...
3 tags
Flipboard
Flipboard, a social media integrating news application for the iPad, was launched only last July and has already gotten 5.5 million downloads and 550 million monthly “flips.” The application derives its name from the reader’s ability to literally “flip” through media content page by page as if holding a magazine. Said to create a “social reading experience,” the app lets you share with friends...
4 tags
Consumer Magazine Ad Pages Fall in 3rd Quarter by...
The Publishers Information Bureau recently released figures that report consumer magazine pages have fallen 5.6% in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2010. Ad pages are now down 1/1% for the first nine months of the year, and prior to the third quarter 2011, consumer magazine ad pages as a whole had grown for five consecutive quarters. For the year to date, ad pages are down 1.1%
...
4 tags
MPA Digital Glossary
The Association of Magazine Media recently published a digital glossary of terms and definitions that have become commonly used in the typical and specialized “techie” vocabulary. It is currently available for free, and includes more than 350 words that is expected to grow over time. These words are, as MPA Executive Vice President Chris Kevorkian states, relevant and important...
5 tags
Reporting the News in the 21st Century
On Friday, September 30th, the Center for Communication in Manhattan hosted a screening and talk open to the public about The New York Times and how changes in the media industry are influencing news reporting. The movie presented, titled Page One: Inside The New York Times (2011), focuses on the day-to-day happenings at the Media Desk of the The New York Times and specifically how the internet’s...
10 tags
NIM: Next Issue Media
Five great global brands, one great media company.
This is the headline on the homepage of the newly established media company Next Issue Media, otherwise known as NIM, founded by five of the largest global publishing houses – Conde Nast, Meredith, Hearst, News Corp., and Time.
In an article published on ZDNet, the Chief technology officer of NIM, Keith Barraclough states that the point of the...
7 tags
Amazon’s Kindles Likely to Dominate Magazine...
As you have most likely already heard, Amazon announced the upcoming release three new Kindle models last Wednesday – and yes, one of these (the Kindle Fire) will be a full color touchscreen. Immediately upon its release, streams of articles and reviews popped up all over the web comparing the new models with their greatest competitor, Apple’s iPad. If you are in the news publishing industry,...
September 2011
7 posts
4 tags
Color Kindle Coming Soon?
Amazon recently sent out invitations to a press conference in Manhattan without giving any announcement or reason. Anticipation is running high, and many suspect that Amazon will introduce a color version of the kindle—more specifically, a 7-inch, color touch screen e-reader for under $300 (around half the price of an iPad). It could arrive as early as next month.
The buzz about a potential new...
7 tags
A New Publishing Suite by Adobe
Adobe has been working to do what it does best in the world of digital publishing – create leading software and find cross-platform solutions. The company recently announced that publishers will be able to use Adobe Digital Publishing Suite to create magazine and newspaper applications that appear front and center in the iTunes store and iPad applications store. The goal is to create quick, well...
4 tags
Can (or Should) Digital Magazines Integrate Social...
Will digital magazines tie information news and social networking together? This is certainly a possibility for some magazines going digital, and also opens up opportunities for new organizations to develop apps. One such instance I recently stumbled upon: NewsMix, an application developed by Sobees that sees itself as a “social magazine.” Their homepage reads:
“NEW! Here is NewsMix by sobees,...
6 tags
The New Yorker's iPad App increases readership and...
In an article published back in July of this year, NY Times reporter Jeremy W. Peters wrote about the recent success of The New Yorker’s iPad app, and what it will indicate for future growth of magazine tablet applications. Peters states some interesting statistics: The New Yorker now has 100,000 iPad readers, 20,000 of which paid a premium price of $59.99 a year to receive the magazine in print...
3 tags
magazine apps continue to grow
When magazines go digital, subscribers often become angry that their money no longer goes towards something tangible… unless (or until) they buy the digital subscription. In an article on folio.com, Stephanie Botelho writes about the growing number of apps for various new platforms, and how this is affecting readership and production in the magazine sector. What stands out as real...
3 tags
Google buys Zagat
Google recently bought Zagat for $66 million, settling for $144 million less than it was asking for two years ago. Google is planning to integrate Zagat reviews, products and users into Google searches using the location, maps, and shopping search tools. The Washington Post reported that the founders of Zagat stated the deal “is the right next step for our employees, our users and for our...
first post
Welcome to my blog! As stated above, I am a NYU student and have created this blog specifically for the Business of Media Class in Steinhardt’s Media, Culture, and Communication program. I am currently pursuing my BFA in Photography & Imaging with a minor in Media, Culture, and Communications. In this blog I will be focusing on the magazine sector of the Media industry.
