Thursday, October 11, 2012

81% of Canadian Consumers Still Buy Books in Print

E-books accounted for about 16% of Canadian book purchases in the first half of 2012, a new survey commissioned by BookNet Canada found. According to the report, “The Canadian Book Consumer 2012: Book-Buying Behaviour in Canada January to June 2012,” the most popular format in the period was paperback, which accounted for 57% of sales, while hardcovers represented 24% of unit sales. E-books’ share of sales declined slightly between the first and second quarters, down from 17.5% to 15%, which BNC speculated was due to the high rate of e-readers given as presents over the holidays that resulted in a burst of e-book buying in the first quarter.

More Cuts for Condé Nast

Condé Nast, home to The New Yorker, Vogue and Vanity Fair, is poring over preliminary budgets for next year — and it doesn’t look pretty.
While not every mag is finished going over the books with President Bob Sauerberg and Chief Financial Officer John Bellando, so far most titles are being asked to come up with another 5 percent in budget cuts for the new fiscal year that starts Feb. 1.

Time Names Group Publisher, News & Business

Time Inc. has named Jed Hartman to the newly created role of group publisher of news and business, in keeping with what seems to be a newfound emphasis by CEO Laura Lang on trying to jump-start the sagging magazine business through cross-title sales.
Hartman has already been overseeing Fortune and CNNMoney for the past two years; he now adds responsibility for Time and Money. He’ll report to Todd Larsen, who recently started in the newly created role [1] of evp and group president of news and sports.

McKinsey Consulting at Time

They’re baaack. Bain & Co. [1] may have left the building, but the consultants—the mere mention of which causes tremors about layoffs—aren’t done at Time Inc. Seems CEO Laura Lang is working with McKinsey & Company now. McKinsey has a reputation for giving management justification to make cost cuts; the firm was at the publishing giant in 2007, and it left the layoffs of some 800 people in its wake.

HarperCollins Invests in Global Publishing System

HarperCollins Invests in Global Publishing System for Print, Digital Printing:
HarperCollins Publishers announced that it will roll out a new global publishing system, one of the largest undertakings of its kind to be implemented by a trade publisher.

Webinar; Critical Trends in the Printing Industry

The Times They are A-changin': Critical Trends in the Printing Industry: Free WhatTheyThink webinar, sponsored by Océ, highlights industry trends revealed at Graph Expo 2012Lexington, Kentucky USA -- WhatTheyThink today announced the opportunity for industry professionals to attend a free printing industry educational webinar. The Times They are A-changin': Critical Trends in the Printing Industry. The session will be moderated by WhatTheyThink Senior Editor Cary Sherburne and led by industry expert Barb Pellow, Group Director at research firm InfoTrends. 

Wednesday, October 10, 2012

H2 Equity Closes on Norkse Parenco Buy

The investment firm H2 Equity Partners has wrapped up the purchase of Norske Skog's Parenco mill in Renkum and its global recovered paper business Reparco. The deal was finalized on October 2.
Parenco will carry on producing mainly supercalendered-B (SC-B) paper on the mill's 265,000 tonne/yr PM 1. The firm will continue to sell the paper under Norske Skog's brand name NorCal until at least the end of the year, according to Parenco managing director Frans Versteeg.

Catalyst Paper Changes Focus

A leaner Catalyst Paper Corp. has slashed the amount of newsprint in its production lines and shifted attention to new opportunities, emboldened by a recent contract to supply book-grade paper for a steamy bestseller.
Catalyst Paper now derives just 15% of its revenue from newsprint, 25% from pulp and 60% from specialty papers. This compares to the 2008 revenue breakdown of 25% from newsprint, 21% from pulp and 54% from specialty papers.

CEP Votes Yes on Contract at Domtar’s Kamloops

New 5 year contract for CEP Local 10b at Domtar’s mill in Kamloops, BC:
Workers at Domtar‘s Kamloops pulp mill have voted to accept a contract offer from their employer.
The members of CEP Local 10b voted 87 % in favour of a deal recommended by the bargaining committee.
Last week the members voted 99.6% in favour of a strike.
The new contract is a 5 year deal.

2011 US Packaging Machinery Ships Up 19%

US packaging machinery shipments jump 19 per cent in 2011
Shipments of U.S. packaging machinery grew 19 percent in 2011, reaching US$7.7 billion, according to PMMI’s 2012 Shipments Study. PMMI’s annual research also shows total consumption in the United States climbing by 23 percent to US$8.8 billion.

CEP Votes on Merger with CAW

More than 1,500 delegates and observers will gather in Quebec City, Oct. 14-17 for the national convention of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union of Canada.
CEP, one of Canada's largest unions, will confront challenges that workers face in this weakened economy, but also the challenges that labour unions in general face. In that context, delegates will debate resolutions calling for collective bargaining and political action as well as one calling for CEP to form a new union with the CAW (autoworkers).
The vote on the new union is the second of two. CAW delegates voted unanimously in favour of the new union proposal at its convention, Aug.22nd in Toronto.

NYT Editorial; "Long Live Paper"

LAST week, Education Secretary Arne Duncan declared a war on paper textbooks. “Over the next few years,” he said in a speech at the National Press Club, “textbooks should be obsolete.” In their place would come a variety of digital-learning technologies, like e-readers and multimedia Web sites.
Such technologies certainly have their place. But Secretary Duncan is threatening to light a bonfire to a tried-and-true technology — good old paper — that has been the foundation for one of the great educational systems on the planet. And while e-readers and multimedia may seem appealing, the idea of replacing an effective learning platform with a widely hyped but still unproven one is extremely dangerous.

Modern Luxury Media Buys Aspen

http://www.minonline.com/news/21278.html
Upscale metro/regional publisher Modern Luxury Media added another rich market with last week's purchase of the six times-a-year Aspen magazine. Seller (price not disclosed) was Janet O'Grady (pictured), who took full ownership of Aspen in 2002 following the death of her husband Randy Beier. The two had bought Aspen in 1987 when it was 13 years old.

Reader's Digest's Digital Transformation

http://techcrunch.com/2012/10/07/readers-digest-tablet-numbers/

Reader's Digest... " magazine that I remember seeing on lots of shelves when I was growing up." Now Editor in Chief Liz Vaccariello tells me that the magazine has undergone a “digital transformation”, especially this year, and it’s finding a growing audience on tablets, with digital sales set to exceed newsstand copies by December.
The magazine is reversing that slide on at least one front — starting in January, it’s going back to a fully monthly schedule.

Angie's List; Print Has Unique Marketing Value

Angie, On Why Angie’s List Publishes a Print Magazine:
Angie Hicks Bowman, co-founder of the home service rating company that carries her name, is one of the smartest marketers I have ever interviewed. After her first year of door knocking, her company had 1,000 members. Today, that number is over 1.5 million paid members.
When I asked Angie why she is sticking with print magazines she said, “I think people interact with print publications differently than they do with online content. Angie’s List is essentially a problem solving service. But our print magazine allows us to interact with members..." Angie added that her magazine helps differentiate her company in the crowded online market: “It’s one of the neat differentiators about us. We are not only collecting all of this content but actually packaging it into this kind of “news you can use format.” In addition, Angie said her print magazine helps drive incremental activity by educating members.

Study; 80% of Consumers Open Direct Mail

Marketers Overestimate The Power of Digital Marketing: Most consumers are not keen to new forms of direct marketing, such as mobile and social media, and would rather communicate with brands through established direct mail and email channels, a new study finds.
According to Marketing-GAP, fewer than 2% of people are “happy” to get marketing messages via text and social media. It states marketers continue to “massively overestimate” the popularity of these channels.
Eight out of 10 open direct mail. The percentage of consumers surveyed who open direct mail is 80%, a little above 2010 levels. A third (34%) state they open all direct mail, 45% only open messages from companies they use and 20% say they don’t open direct mailings.

WSJ Offers Advertising Exchange

http://www.btobonline.com/article/20121010/MEDIABUSINESS16/310109993/wall-street-journal-digital-network-debuts-private-ad-exchange

The Wall Street Journal Digital Network has introduced a branded private advertising exchange called WSJ Audex.
The invitation-only exchange enables advertisers to do real-time bidding across Barrons.com, MarketWatch.com, SmartMoney.com and WSJ.com.

Welch Out at Fortune and Reuters

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/jack-welch-quits-fortune-reuters-144331
Jack Welch has quit [1] writing for Fortune and Reuters after the news outlets piled on him for suggesting that the Obama administration cooked the monthly jobs report for political gain.
The critics pounced, among them Fortune managing editor Andy Serwer, who contradicted Welch’s claim on MSNBC’s Morning Joe and Fortune corporate sibling CNNMoney ran a story [2] today slamming Welch's own job record while running GE. Reuters posted a story [3] Oct. 5 quoting money manager Barry Ritholtz as saying Welch’s comments were “hilarious,” referring to allegations that Welch himself tried to manipulate GE’s earnings.

Forrester Lowers Digital Ad Forecast

Forrester lowers digital ad spending forecast: U.S. digital interactive media spending will increase from $12.7 billion this year to $28.0 billion in 2017, growing at an annual average rate of 17%, according to a forecast from Forrester Research.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

NewPage Files Amended Plan

NewPage Files Amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan And Disclosure Statement:
NewPage Corporation announced that it has filed an amended Joint Chapter 11 Plan (the "Plan") and Disclosure Statement with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.
"The filing of our amended Plan of Reorganization and Disclosure Statement is an important step toward exiting bankruptcy this year with a strong balance sheet," said Jay Epstein, senior vice president and chief financial officer of NewPage.

Verso Biomass Project Nears Completion

Contractors are working diligently to get an upgraded biomass system finished by the end of the month at Verso Paper's mill in Bucksport.
The $42 million project includes refitting the No. 8 boiler to burn only natural wood products and the installation of a new 25-megawatt turbine. It's part of Verso's 2009 diversification strategy to establish energy production as a crucial part of the company's portfolio.

Drought Brings Hard Choices to Catalyst Crofton

Catalyst Paper is trying to find a balance between aiding a salmon run and having to shut down its operations.
Continuing dry conditions have created the possibility that the company will run out of water about Oct. 31, curtailing or halting operations, said Brian Houle, environmental manager at Crofton mill.

NewPage Expanding Focus on Uncoated Freesheet

NewPage Corporation (NewPage) today announced that it is strengthening its commitment to the uncoated freesheet market segment and broadening its reach for its Ideal products.
Ideal attributes include a 92 brightness, brilliant blue-white shade, excellent ink holdout and optimal opacity. Ideal meets the exacting needs of any print application while remaining within a tight budget. It is recommended for end use such as annual reports, brochures, catalogs, coupons, direct mail, financial documents, newsletters and manuals.

U.S. Top Global Wood Pellets Exporter

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/business/978540-464/wood-pellets-becoming-a-major-us-export.html
Wood pellets for burning are a high-profile alternative energy source in New England, but a new report shows that it’s the Southeast which is turning them into a big export commodity.
A report by Wood Resources International released Tuesday said that the U.S. surpassed Canada this year as the world’s leading exporter of wood pellets for fuel, largely because of exports to Europe, where biomass heat and power are a much larger part of the energy picture. Finland, for example, produces 20 percent of its total energy from wood, while Austria is not far behind.

Environ. Cert. News: Cost of Narrowing Choices / PEFC Wins NGO Case

Forest certification is becoming an important tool in balancing resource sustainability and economic viability, but there is growing confusion in the marketplace over certification standards and eco labels. According to a new report by the American Consumer Institute (ACI) Center for Citizen Research, that confusion could be driving up prices by as much as 15 to 20 percent for consumers who are willing to pay more for sustainable wood and paper products but may not actually be getting something that is better for the environment.
The ACI report titled – The Monopolization of Forest Certification: Do Disparate Standards Increase Consumer Costs and Undermine Sustainability? – reveals the consequences of a reliance on an FSC-only approach, with a vast majority of US certified timber coming from other certification programs. 
The Board of Appeal of Stichting Milieukeur (SMK) has rejected an appeal filed by a coalition of NGOs and confirmed that PEFC International conforms to the Dutch Procurement criteria. This rejection comes one year after the Dutch Timber Procurement Assessment Committee (TPAC) rejected an objection filed by the NGOs as unsubstantiated, ending an exhaustive four year process that confirmed at every stage that PEFC delivers sustainability as defined in the Dutch criteria.

Report on WE Paper & Paperboard Released

New Market Research Report: Paper & Paperboard in Western Europe:
Paper & Paperboard in Western Europe industry profile provides top-line qualitative and quantitative summary information including:
* Market consumption volumes decreased with a CARC of -1.9% between 2007-2011, to reach a total of 77.2 million metric tonnes in 2011.
* The performance of the market is forecast to accelerate, with an anticipated CAGR of 1.6% for the five-year period 2011 - 2016, which is expected to drive the market to a value of $74.6 billion by the end of 2016.

Biomass Magazine Offered to Industry

Free Offer: Biomass Magazine:
Biomass Magazine is a monthly publication tailored to serve companies and organizations engaged in producing or utilizing biomass power and heat, advanced biofuels, biogas, wood pellets and biobased chemicals.

Quad/Graphics & Time Inc.: $900 Million+ Deal

Quad/Graphics $900 Million-Plus Agreement with Time Inc.'s Magazines: New, multi-year agreement covers 19 titles and represents a 35% increase in Quad/Graphics' incremental volume over the term Quad/Graphics, Inc. (QUAD), announced today that it has reached a new, $900 million-plus agreement with Time Inc. that significantly extends and expands its magazine print work for the venerable New York publisher. Under the multi-year agreement, Quad/Graphics will handle more than 85% of the print work for 19 titles that are among the most popular magazines in America.

2016 Global Publishing Worth $273 Billion

http://www.sacbee.com/2012/10/08/4891292/global-publishing-industry-to.html 
The global publishing industry is predicted to be worth $273 billion by 2016 for an increase of nearly 12% since 2011, according to a report available at ReportLinker.com.

MPA: Brands Advertising on Magazine Platforms Up 57%

http://www.magazine.org/industry-news/press-releases/mpa-press-releases/mpa/footprint 
New data released from MPA, the Association of Magazine Media, provide a more complete picture of the strength of magazines across platforms.  The findings reveal a 57% spike in the number of brands advertising on magazine media platforms (tablet, online and print) since 2010, and strong consumer engagement.   Additionally, the data show year-over-year growth in the combined print and online magazine audience.

Millennial Media Names CMO

http://adage.com/article/people-players/people-move-mollie-spilman-named-cmo-millennial-media/237650/
Millennial Media has appointed Mollie Spilman to the newly created role of executive vice president and CMO. Ms. Spilman joins Millennial Media from Yahoo, where she served as chief marketing officer. Prior to her role as CMO, she served as the senior vice president of B-to-B marketing, senior vice president of commerce and Yahoo's head of marketing for the Americas.

Q3 Media Industry Deals up 42%

Value of media industry deals up 42% in Q3: New York—The number of media deals in the third quarter fell to 381, a decline of 5% from the second quarter, according to a report by media investment bank Berkery, Noyes & Co. However, transaction value grew 42%, to $23.2 billion,  the highest value recorded in the past seven quarters.

Penton Launches Trusts & Estates Plus

Penton Launches App for Niche Wealth and Estate Management Market:
Penton has just launched a new app called Trusts & Estates Plus that targets subscribers of the magazine of the same name, as well as the company's new Wealthmanagement.com site. The app will cost $329 per year for new subscribers, which also provides access to Wealthmanagement.com and other digital products.

'USA Today Using comScore to Track

'USA Today' adopts comScore viewability metrics: Gannett Co. announced it will implement comScore's viewable impression measurement for ad campaigns running on USAToday.com.

The Nation & National Review Partner for Ad Sales

The Nation and National Review Partner for Ad Sales:
If you forget politics for a second, the readership of The Nation and National Review are actually quite similar—"opinion leaders" inside and outside the beltway. That similarity drove the two magazines together to create the "Purple Network"—a combined sales effort that marries the red of the National Review and the blue of The Nation, as well as their rate bases and a steeply discounted ad buy. 

Popular Science Creates Digital Bellyband

Popular Science Creates Digital Bellyband for Its Tablet Edition:
The bellyband—an advertising device that's about as traditional as you can get—is getting the digital treatment at Popular Science. The November issue of the magazine's Mag+ tablet version will feature a digital bellyband that readers have to engage before they're able to access the contents.

AIM & Restore Media Become Partners

AIM Partners With Restore Media: Active Interest Media (AIM) and Restore Media have agreed to partner in production of their historic home and building brands, the companies announced today.
AIM bought consumer publications Old House Journal and New Old House from Restore Media in 2007. Those two brands, as well as Restore's two professional titles, Period Homes and Traditional Building, are involved in the current deal.

WSJ Names VP-Global Marketing, Ad Sales

'WSJ' names Lawrence VP-global marketing, advertising sales: The Wall Street Journal has appointed Nina Lawrence VP-global marketing, advertising sales.
In addition to leading the Journal's global sales team, Lawrence will oversee the upcoming expansion of the company's creative and custom advertising capabilities.

Pearson CEO Steps Down

Pearson Plc (PSON) Chief Executive Officer Marjorie Scardino will step down after 16 years and be replaced by the head of its international education business, spurring speculation the company may sell the Financial Times newspaper.
John Fallon, 50, will replace Scardino, 65, starting January 2013, the London-based company said today.

Variety Sold to Penske Media

Variety Sold to Penske Media:
Entertainment news source Variety has been sold by Reed Elsevier to digital media and publishing company Penske Media Corporation (PMC). The deal is estimated to be for about $25 million, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Friday, October 5, 2012

US Trade Rep Begins Port Hawk Inquiry

US trade representative starts NAFTA inquiry into subsidies for Port Hawkesbury Paper:
A trade representative in the United States has started a NAFTA inquiry to determine if improper subsidies were given to Port Hawkesbury Paper.
The Nova Scotia government provided the new owners with a $124.5 million aid package and spent an additional $36.8 million to keep the mill hot idled until a sale agreement could be reached.
Ron Kirk,  United States Trade Representative, plans to request information from the Canadian and Nova Scotian governments to verify details of the assistance given to the mill.
Kirk was prompted by Maine’s Congressman Mike Michaud who is concerned about job losses in Maine.

Pulp & Paper Firms to Invest $2 Bil in PM Projects

 Researched by Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas) -- Pulp and paper manufacturers have outlined plans to invest just more than $2 billion in 125 paper machine projects at paper mills across the U.S., Canada and Mexico. Mill owners are planning to perform major upgrades, rebuilds and new installations, mainly for reliability and runnability, as well as quality improvements. The investment values of the projects range from $500,000 to $430 million. There are a dozen projects that are under construction with a combined value of $1.04 billion. The remaining projects have construction kick-off dates from October of this year to June 2014.

Environmental Group Upset with Port Hawk Deal

Paper mill agreement concerns N.S. environment group:
A Nova Scotia's environmental group says it's outraged the province has weakened forest protection requirements for the new owners of the Port Hawkesbury Paper mill in Cape Breton.
The Ecology Action Centre says the final agreement signed Friday between the province and Stern Partners Inc. — an affiliate of Pacific West Commercial Corp. — includes a clause that would allow the newly reopened mill to drop its certification by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Sappi: No Plans to Increase Gratkorn Capacity

 Sappi does not intend to double the capacity of its Gratkorn mill, located outside of Graz in southern Austria, contrary to such claims in an Austrian media report.
The Austrian newspaper Die Presse published an article on September 23 stating that Sappi wants to invest "no less than $400 million" in the Gratkorn mill, quoting Sappi CEO Ralph Boëttger.
The Gratkorn mill has a capacity of some 950,000 tonnes/yr of triple-coated woodfree (CWF) paper on two PMs and 255,000 tonnes/yr of totally chlorine-free chemical pulp. It also has an annual sheet finishing capacity of 800,000 tonnes/yr.

Mega-Merger Solution to Europe's Capacity Challenge?

Finland's paper giants UPM-Kymmene (HEX:UPM1V) and Stora Enso (HEX:STERV) have been looking at piecemeal solutions to the crisis in Europe's paper industry, but it may be that nothing less than a mega-merger will do.
Battered by the global debt crisis and the shift to online media, the region's industry is currently estimated to have 10-15 percent of overcapacity in paper grades such as newsprint, and magazine and office paper.
The world's two biggest producers of those graphic paper grades, whose headquarters are separated by a few hundred meters on Helsinki's seafront market square, have closed down several paper mills since 2006, but more consolidation in the European paper industry is seen as inevitable.
Analysts say the ideal solution may be a merger of UPM and Stora Enso that would create the world's number one paper company by any measure, which would give the combined entity substantial control over capacity and therefore, prices, helping rivals as well as themselves.

P&P Week Completes Merger


RISI, the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today announced that it has incorporated the publication Official Board Markets (OBM) into its sister publication, PPI Pulp & Paper Week (PPW). As the premier news and price reporting service for the North American pulp and paper industry, PPW will leverage the addition of OBM resources and content to improve the accuracy of recovered paper price reporting and expand its coverage of the paperboard market.

Birla’s AV Terrace Bay Starts Pulp Mill

Indian firm Aditya Birla Group's 350,000 tonnes/yr northern bleached softwood kraft (NBSK) market pulp mill at Terrace Bay, ON, fired up its boiler on Wednesday and is starting pulp production this week, as reported by RISI.

Forbes AdVoice Becomes BrandVoice

Two years after launching its brand platform AdVoice, Forbes has learned a couple things: Its top advertisers like content programs, and they remain a small slice of overall revenue. Forbes is betting the former will outweigh the latter in the long run.
It has rebranded the service to BrandVoice to differentiate it as content marketing and is expanding it into video. Forbes is positioning the content product as a premium service, building up a content services division and often bundling BrandVoice as part of pricey integrated buys that carry a $1 million minimum.

Wired Tries "Advertorial"

Condé Nast’s Wired, Reddit Team Up for Multi-Platform Ad Campaign:
Wired is getting creative with its advertisers, and having readers go along for the experience. In a new campaign designed by the magazine and client, user generated content is leveraged to provide a collaborative, multi-platform advertorial (below) that appears in the publication’s October issue.