“A Tale of Two New Magazines:” It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was
the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief,
it was the epoch of incredulity…Not only is this the first line of one of the classics; it
is the opening scene of a drama we sometimes witness in the magazine media
world. Hearst recently announced that rate bases were jumping again
on two of its titles: Food Network Magazine and HGTV Magazine. This will be the
11th consecutive rate base increase for Food Network Magazine since launching
in 2009 and the 3rd increase for HGTV Magazine since the first official issue
in June 2012. It is the best of times for Food Network Magazine. Yet it
was the worst of times for another culinary magazine that had been around for
almost 70 years: Gourmet. In 2008, when the economy busted and technology burst upon
the scene, some major publishers, like Condé Nast, struggled to keep their
footing. So Gourmet was sacrificed and Condé Nast concentrated all of its
life-giving oxygen on Bon Appétit. So has the economy improved that much in four or five years
that the magazine media industry can expect the amazing growth that titles like
Food Network and HGTV are realizing? Or is there more to the story? Perhaps we
have finally learned a very important lesson: that as long as we integrate and communicate to our audience the relevant message, via the relevant platform, we
can see our numbers grow once again. In the cases of Food Network and HGTV, stories are rarely
repeated between the pages of the print magazines and those that come to life
on the television screen. Both magazines are substantial and are their own
unique experiences, apart from their broadcast counterparts. What I believe that we can take away from this is two
things: One, you have to be willing to listen to your customers,
bottom line. Paying just lip service to your customers is not going to work. It
doesn’t matter what you as an editor or publisher want, you can’t self-support
your own magazine; it’s going to take a community of loyal readers to do that
for you. Two: We need to learn from the old business model, take from
it what still works and be willing to sacrifice what does not. Doing the same
thing time and time again won’t fly in 2013. Take the best from the past, focus
on the present, and always keep an eye on the future, that’s where your
business model should be headed.
