Once
upon a time, the hottest kind of publisher to be in the U.S. was a European
one. Companies like Bonnier, Dennis, Emap, Bauer and Hachette Filipacchi
established footholds in the States with buzzy titles, made big acquisitions
and touted cross-Atlantic success of the Euro business model (heavy on
newsstand sales, light on subscriptions). But recent years have seen once-hot
titles shuttered, assets sold and expectations lowered.
Certainly,
the economy has made it tough for everyone. "Both U.S.-owned and
international publishers are saying that if they're not seeing properties
rebound after four or five years of downturn, then they’re shutting down or
scaling back," said media banker Reed Phillips.
