Six New Launches, New Directions

http://www.foliomag.com/node/38423/print

The entrepreneurial spirit and lure of new revenue streams have not dimmed. If anything, they’ve grown more vital. Media executives, either emboldened by a market where the risk-averse leave opportunities wide open or driven to seek out new revenue as traditional platform growth slows to a crawl, are placing bets on new products and ventures.

Here, we examine six new startups from the last year that run the spectrum from a mega-brand launch from one of the country’s largest publishers (including Hearst's HGTV) to a small b-to-b play with big ambitions that’s received some serious backing from the venture community.

MeadWestvaco Reports Q4 Results

MeadWestvaco loses money in 4th quarter on charges:
RICHMOND, Va. &#8212 Packaging company MeadWestvaco Corp. lost money in the fourth quarter, dragged down by charges related to the spinoff of its consumer and office products business.

Catalyst Paper on Debt Reduction

Catalyst Paper Muddies the Water with Its Clarification and 443-Word Sentence: The Canadian papermaker has worked out a proposed deal with many of its bondholders that would enable it to avoid bankruptcy, but would turn up to 99.5% of its stock over to the bondholders in exchange for debt reduction.

Free Second Ounce for First Class Business Mail

USPS Launches Free Second Ounce Pricing for First-Class Business Mail: High-volume commercial mailers spoke, and the Postal Service listened. Effective this week, businesses mailing First-Class Mail automation, presort letters using “2nd Ounce Free” pricing can mail letters weighing up to two ounces at the one-ounce postage rate.

MagnaGlobal Revises Ad Forecast Up

MagnaGlobal revises U.S. ad forecast up to 3.7% growth this year: New York—U.S. ad revenue will grow by 3.7% this year over last year, according to a revised forecast by MagnaGlobal, the global media unit of IPG's Mediabrands. This forecast is up from a 2.9% growth projection issued by MagnaGlobal in October.

Media Executives Cautiously Optimistic for 2012

Report: Media execs cautiously optimistic: New York—Media executives are cautiously optimistic about this year, according to the “2012 Media Growth Survey Report,” released by Jordan, Edmiston Group and Econsultancy.

CFO Publishing Buys Innovation Enterprise

CFO Publishing acquires Innovation Enterprise Group: New York—CFO Publishing, publisher of CFO, has acquired the London-based Innovation Enterprise Group, a producer of conferences for senior finance executives. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Topspin Buys Stagnito Media

Stagnito Media sold to Topspin Partners: Deerfield, Ill.—Stagnito Media, a b-to-b media company that focuses on the food and retail sectors, has been sold to private equity firm Topspin Partners LBO for an undisclosed sum.

Bertelsmann Spins Off Its Arvato Printing Operations

Bertelsmann Spins Off Its Arvato Printing Operations: GÜTERSLOH, GERMANY—Jan. 25, 2012—Bertelsmann is focusing its Arvato division on growth with an emphasis on the services businesses. To achieve this, the gravure printing operations and all of Arvato’s international printers are being grouped into a separate unit outside the Arvato division.The new printing unit will have revenues of €1.2 billion and will consist of the Prinovis Group and its sites in Germany and the U.K., along with Arvato’s printers in Italy, Spain and the United States.

Kodak Seeking $950 Million from Investors

Kodak identifies core businesses as it pitches for $950m financing: Kodak has singled out digital printing and packaging solutions as being among its most valuable growth businesses, as part of its pitch to potential investors.