Magazine News Roundup

Time Inc. has named Sally Preston as publisher of Real Simple.  Ms Preston was most recently working at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Open Sky Media, a portfolio company of private equity firm Hadley Capital, has purchased Marin magazine.  Open Sky has recently bought a number of regional properties; chairman Paul Wormley said he is very optimistic about the city and regional magazine space and that their brands will have a strong digital presence, providing a “gateway to the print product.”

Consumer Reports is offering its print subscribers iPad access at no extra cost beginning with the January issue.

More About Magazines

Trunk, a lifestyle magazine focusing primarily on travel, will now be published biannually and, because of a deal with Source Interlink, it will now be sold in 20 countries.

Bauer Media Group has cut the rate base of Touch Weekly from 800,000 to 650,000 and Life Style Weekly from 450,000 to 400,000, as of January.

American Legacy, which did not publish three issues this year, has raised the new investment capital it sought and will resume publishing in February.

The Economist now has more than 100,000 digital subscribers, more than 3 million downloads of its app and has increased its print circulation 3% in the first 6 months of 2011.

Last of Friday's Magazine Roundup News

Hearst Corp., Advance Digital, A.H. Belo, Cox Media, Gannett, MediaNews, McClatchy and The Washington Post Co. have joined in creating Find n Save, a common platform that offers promotions and deals through newspaper websites.

American Media has signed an agreement with Fresh Media Group.  The $10 million deal will reduce AMI’s costs by outsourcing production to Group FMG.

IDG will shutter its video gaming magazine GamePro.  The winter edition will be its last.

Chapel Hill and Durham magazine publisher Dan Shannon is adding a new title, The Weekly.

Pregnancy magazine will be only available in digital format after the December/January issue, its last in print.

Consumers Still Like Direct Mail

Consumers Still Like Direct Mail

A study conducted by Epsilon found that 50% of U.S. consumers prefer direct mail to email and 75% say they get more email than they can read.  60% of the 2,226 consumers in the survey said they enjoy checking their physical mailboxes, a phenomenon the Consumer Channel Preference Study refers to as an “emotional connection” consumers have to their postal mail.

Separately, The American Catalog Mailer Association published the following statement: “We estimate the catalog industry paid $3.6 billion in postage, generating more than $1 billion of fixed-cost coverage above what it cost the USPS to deliver the catalogs...”  “..half of America buys from catalogs.”

Teen Vogue Gets New Publisher

Condé Nast Names New Publisher for Teen Vogue
Jason Wagenheim, who just stepped down from his position as publisher of Condé Nast title Glamour, has been named as publisher of Teen Vogue.  The company also announced that Kevin Martinez, who left Hearst in June, will become publisher of Details.

Meredith Begins ROI Program with K-C

Kimberly Clark First Meredith Engagement Dividend Client
Meredith Corp. announced early this year that it was offering, to selected advertisers who met specific criteria, a program that guarantees an increase in sales tied to printed ads.  Nielsen and Meredith data will be used by Engagement Dividend, which will be launched early next year.

Great Northern (Katahdin) Gets $1 Million from Maine

Great Northern Gets Help From State
Great Northern Paper is the owner of mills in East Millinocket and Millinocket, Maine, both of which had been closed until the company restarted PM 5, a newsprint and uncoated mechanical machine last month.  Now, the Board of Directors of the Finance Authority of Maine has approved a direct loan of $1 million, giving Great Northern a chance to better its financial position.  FAME is trying to help the mill retain ~215 jobs in the state.

Two Bidders for NewPage Port Hawkesbury Named

Two of Four Bidders for Port Hawkesbury Interested in Restart
The NewPage Post Hawkesbury mill, which went into creditor protection in September, has been in the process of seeking a new owner.   Reportedly, there are four bidders, two of whom will probably restart at least the 400,000 short ton per year Supercalendered paper machine, if not the newsprint/uncoated mechanical PM.  Previously, Paper Excellence (part of Asian giant APP) was identified as a suitor and today Stern Partners was named as the second firm interested in running the mill again.  Stern is owner or part owner of West Linn Paper, Alberta Newsprint, FP Newspapers and Canstar Publications.

Bowater Mersey Newsprint Mill Gets Reprieve

$50 Million for Bowater Mersey from Nova Scotia taxpayers:

Premier Darrell Dexter was in Liverpool, Nova Scotia this afternoon to make a multi-million dollar announcement for the Bowater Mersey mill.

Richard Garneau, CEO of Resolute Forest Products (co-owner of the Bowater Mersey mill) signed an agreement Thursday to maintain the mill for five years.

50% of Consumers Prefer Direct Mail

Study: Fifty percent of consumers prefer direct mail to email

Of the 2,226 U.S. consumers surveyed for the third Consumer Channel Preference Study, 60% said they enjoy checking their physical mailboxes, highlighting what the study refers to as an “emotional connection” to postal mail. In the U.S., 75% of consumers say they get more email than they can read.

Manroland Secures Credit, Production Continues

Germany's manroland mass credit approved; continuation of production and business secured

AUGSBURG, Germany, Dec. 2, 2011 (Press Release) - For the insolvent manroland AG the provisional insolvency administrator Werner Schneider has secured an agreement for a so-called "Massekredit" (similar to debtor-in-possession financing). "Continuation of production and business operations at manroland is therefore secured," said Werner Schneider, a financial auditor.

Time Inc. Names Real Simple Publisher

Sally Preston Named 'Real Simple' Publisher

The day after it named a new CEO, Time Inc. has ended another extended leadership search. Real Simple announced Thursday that Sally Preston would be its next publisher, ending a four-month process. Preston’s hire was in the works for a while, but was delayed by her previous employment at Real Simple rival Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Manufacturing Expands for 28th Consecutive Month

Manufacturing ISM Report On Business Reports Growth: In the Latest Manufacturing ISM Report On Business®: The PMI registered 52.7 percent, an increase of 1.9 percentage points from October's reading of 50.8 percent, indicating expansion in the manufacturing sector for the 28th consecutive month.
PERFORMANCE BY INDUSTRY
Of the 18 manufacturing industries, eight are reporting growth in November, in the following order: Wood Products; Textile Mills; Petroleum & Coal Products; Primary Metals; Food, Beverage & Tobacco Products; Computer & Electronic Products; Apparel, Leather & Allied Products; and Paper Products.