Thursday, June 20, 2013

Catalyst Paper Names Interim CEO

Catalyst Paper chairman Leslie Lederer taking over as interim CEO:
Catalyst Paper announced Wednesday that company chairman Leslie Lederer will take over as CEO on an interim basis following the departure of current CEO Kevin Clarke at the end of the month.

AF&PA Reports April Containerboard, Paperboard, Kraft Paper Ships

Containerboard production dropped 1.5 percent over March 2013 but rose 4.2 percent over the same month last year.  The month-over-month average daily production increased 1.8 percent.  The containerboard operating rate for April 2013 gained 1.5 points from March 2013, from 92.8 percent to 94.3 percent.   
Total boxboard production increased by 1.7 percent compared to April 2012 and increased 2 percent from last month. Unbleached Kraft Boxboard production decreased over the same month last year but increased compared to last month. Total Solid Bleached Boxboard & Liner production increased compared to April 2012 and increased compared to last month. The production of Recycled Boxboard increased compared to April 2012 but decreased when compared to last month.
http://www.afandpa.org/media/news/2013/05/16/american-forest-paper-association-releases-april-2013-kraft-paper-sector-report
Total Kraft paper shipments were 133 thousand tons, an increase of less than 1 percent compared to the prior month. Bleached Kraft paper shipments increased year-over-year 10.3 percent, but the 3.1 percent year-over-year decline in the larger category of Unbleached Kraft paper shipments was enough to bring overall Kraft paper shipments down 1.2 percent year-over-year. Total month-end inventory decreased 7.1 percent to 66.5 thousand tons this month compared to March 2013 month-end inventories.

Paper Industry Still Strong in Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. released a study that claims to dissect our state's economy. A story in the Journal Sentinel stated that one major conclusion of the study is that our reliance on manufacturing, and specifically the paper industry, has led to a slow growth economy in our state ("Wisconsin economy stuck in old-growth industries," Page 1A, Tuesday). 
To have the WEDC suggest that the paper industry is "not strongly positioned in their competitiveness" and "paper manufacturing has been steadily contracting, and we believe that will continue to contract" shows how little policy-makers know about the paper industry and does not jibe with many of the study's conclusions.

Forest Industry Leaders Meet With Gov. Officials

http://www.afandpa.org/
More than 50 forest products industry leaders from across the country are on Capitol Hill today representing the interests of the nearly 900,000 Americans in talking to Members of Congress about the top priorities for paper and wood products manufacturers.
The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) and the American Wood Council (AWC) are co-hosting the 2013 Forest Products Industry Fly-In, in which CEOs and senior executives will discuss industry priorities with Congress including:
carbon neutrality of biomass;
reasonable air regulations;
inclusion of paper and wood products in USDA's BioPreferred program;
corporate tax reform;
postal reform;
truck weight increase for federal highways;
maintaining paper options for all Americans;
recognition of multiple credible green building rating systems; and
support for wood in building energy codes. 

Gorham Announces Price Increases

To offset rising raw material and energy costs, Gorham Paper and Tissue announced today a $50/ton price increase for Packaging and Lightweight printing grades effective with July 15th shipments.
Since the fall, Gorham has experienced double digit price increases in the areas of pulp, PCW, natural gas and power. The costs increases are too great for the company to offset through productivity improvements and cost savings programs.

Domtar, First Book Expand Partnership for Literacy

Domtar and First Book Expand Partnership for Literacy: Collaboration to provide 60,000 new books and resources to children in need across the United States and Canada
WASHINGTON, DC - Today, First Book, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides new books to children in need, and Domtar, the Sustainable Paper Company, announced the expansion of their partnership for literacy.  The next phase of collaboration will help bring 60,000 brand-new, high-quality books to kids from low-income families across North America.

PIA Comments on Patent Trolling

Printing Industries of America’s President and CEO Michael Makin issued the following notice to its membership.
Dear Members:
In recent months, Printing Industries of America has seen an alarming increase in the number of printers who have reported being targeted by law firms alleging they are infringing patents for technologies as ubiquitous in the industry as prepress workflow, computer-to-plate, and Web-to-print.

News Corp. Split Begins

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/news-corp-split-begins-150513 
News Corp.'s publishing spinoff began preliminary trading at a value of $9.1 billion, making it "the biggest U.S. newspaper publisher by market capitalization," according to Bloomberg Businessweek. 
The preliminary trading is part of News Corp.'s plan to split its subsidiary businesses into two independent, publicly-traded companies. Shareholders approved the split at a meeting last week and the two entities will officially separate on June 28.

SONGS Signs Up Conde Nast

Seeking to carve out a new model for licensing, SONGS Music Publishing struck a novel deal with Conde Nast Entertainment Partners, which agreed to use SONGS' catalog as the primary source of music for original online videos produced for its Glamour, GQ, Vogue and Wired channels on YouTube and elsewhere. 
The nine-year-old boutique publishing company, known for the hands-on career building approach it takes with its 350 songwriters, is taking a similar tack with Conde Nast, promising to provide a high level of service in matching the publisher's   videos with music from Diplo, Brian Lee, Nelly, Matt Thiessen and other artists on its roster.

Atlantic Follows Esquire with Weekly Digital Issues

As magazines search for new mobile monetization models from devices, two legendary monthly titles are experimenting with weekly digital-only versions. Earlier this month Esquire launched a weekly issue that combines exclusive blog, Q&A material with repurposed material from both Esquire.com and its ebook projects. And on Friday, The Atlantic began its own mini-magazine strategy with a weekly issue for smartphones and tablets also combining ‘best of’ material from its Web sites and print archive.

Women's Magazines and "Serious Journalism"

Women's magazines aren't serious. That's the perception that exists anyway. It might be a matter of what consumers think about them, or maybe it's just how the people who work at them are judged by their peers in the media. But they're not taken seriously, and it's not because of their content. It's because our understanding of what Serious Journalism™ is, who makes it and the historical reasoning behind why ladymags — tucked aside in a pink ghetto — are often misunderstood.
There's been a lot of talk this week about the "seriousness" of women's magazines, which all started with a cover story from U.K. magazine Port hailing a "New Golden Age" of print media—one that, judging by the editors featured on Port's cover, is being led exclusively by white, middle-aged males. In response, a debate has sprung up about whether women’s magazines are, in fact, capable of providing "serious journalism." Elle editor in chief Robbie Myers used her August editor’s letter to explain that yes, in fact, they are.

MediaPost Mag Bag

Condé Nast has signed a deal with Livefyre to turn the magazine publisher’s digital properties into social hubs Livefyre’s StreamHub platform. The high-end publisher will use Livefyre’s platform and Live applications to boost social activity and engagement for brands including Condé Nast Traveler, Glamour, Golf Digest, GQ, Lucky, The New Yorker, Teen Vogue and Vanity Fair.
Adobe Announces 100 Million Digital Downloads
Adobe has powered 100 million digital downloads of various kinds of publications using the Adobe Digital Publishing Suite, the tech company announced this week, including magazines, newspapers, corporate publications and apps.
Meredith Rolls Out Augmented Reality App
Meredith Corp. has unveiled a new augmented reality app, Mom+, that works with its entire portfolio of Parents Network publications, including Parents, American Baby, FamilyFun and Ser Padres
Phillips To VP, Publisher Glamour 
Connie Anne Phillips has been appointed to the position of vice president and publisher of Glamour, replacing William Wackermann, who is moving to the position of executive vice president and publishing director for Condé Nast Traveler. And more...

Amazon Reacts to Sales Tax Law

Sales tax legislation strikes again! Amazon.com is terminating its contracts with affiliates in Minnesota effective June 30, 2013, thanks to a bill passed in May. The state is home to retail chains Best Buy and Target. In its letter to Amazon Associates, the marketplace called its decision "a direct result of the unconstitutional Minnesota state tax collection legislation passed by the state legislature and signed by Governor Dayton on May 23, 2013, with an effective date of July 1, 2013."
The Minnesota bill was made possible thanks to New York legislators. While other states were trying to figure out how to get ecommerce sites like Amazon to collect sales tax owed by their residents, New York state came up with a way by arguing Amazon had nexus in the state because it compensated its New York affiliate advertisers, who are neither employees nor contractors of the company. 
That was in 2008, and since then, 11 states have passed such laws, according to the Performance Marketing Association (PMA), which has been fighting against such legislation in Minnesota for the past 4 years. And while Amazon is collecting sales tax in a few of the states where these laws passed, in most such states it has fired its affiliates.

F+W Launches Subscription Video Site

F+W Launches Subscription Video Site:  Enthusiast media company F+W Media has just launched a new video subscription site for crafters called Craft Daily. The site is a paid content venture, with a tiered subscription model enabling unlimited views at monthly or yearly terms. A monthly subscription for content across all of the nine crafting categories is $19.99 and yearly is $199, both auto-renew until a user cancels. If a customer only wants a subscription to, say, the beading video content, then the pricing drops slightly to an $11.99 monthly sub and a $119 yearly subscription.

Licensing Deal for Jamie Magazine Fails

North American Licensing Deal for Jamie Magazine Falls Apart:
The magazine brand for celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has hit a major snag with its plans to be licensed for distribution in North America. A partnership between UK-based Jamie magazine and software company idoodle has broken down. A spokesperson for Jamie magazine declined to offer details on why the licensing deal fell apart, but said talks with other potential partners are underway. "We are actively seeking a new relationship," she said.

Folio: People On The Move

People On The Move | 6.20.13:
Sean McManus has been named as the managing director at QuartzLive. McManus was previously director of programmes at The Economist.
Emily Lenzner has joined Atlantic Media to lead the communications team there. Lenzer will be taking over for Linda Douglass. Douglass is reducing her role from senior vice president of global communications to a part-time advisory position at Atlantic Media.
Bonnier Corp. has named Shannon Rudd to general manager, digital business development for its men's group. Rudd had been digital business director at Parenting Group.
Chin was formerly a senior marketing executive with EA SPORTS and Nike.
SpinMedia has named Michael Wann as chief revenue officer. Wann ppreviously had business development roles for Amazon.com and MSNBC.com.
Brian Powley has been promoted to global president of iCrossing. Powley has been with iCrossing since 2007 and was serving as president of North America.
Palm Beach Illustrated has named Randie Dalia as publisher. She had been associate group publisher there.
Connie Anne Phillips has been named vice president and publisher of Glamour. She was previously publisher at In Style. Condé Nast also appointed William Wackermann as executive vice president and publishing director of Condé Nast Traveler. He had been Glamour's publishing executive.
Gail Scott has been named publisher at Pinecrest Magazine. She has previously been account director at Tribune 365.

Kodak Seeks Approval for $406 Million Rights Offering

Kodak Seeks Approval for $406 Million Rights Offering, including Backstop Equity Commitment from Creditors: Eastman Kodak Company today announced that, subject to Court approval, key creditors have agreed to backstop a $406 million rights offering for common stock in the company upon its emergence from Chapter 11. Kodak expects to use the proceeds of the rights offering to fund distributions under Kodak’s revised Plan of Reorganization, including the repayment of its second lien creditors, who will no longer receive equity in the Plan.

Infographic: B-to-B CEO Survey

Infographic: 2013 Folio: B-to-B CEO Survey:
Key data points from May 2013 survey.