Households Making $100K: 82% Read Print

Households Making $100K+ Remain Heavy Print Users: A survey shows that households making 100K+ continue to "reaffirm the power of the hard copy print publications in their lives, even as tablet and smartphone penetration grows disproportionately in this demographic."
The survey finds that 82% of Affluents regularly read at least one of the 150 measured and reported print publications (143 magazines and 7 national newspapers). The total duplicated average-issue audience (AIA) is more than 221 million, reflecting that America’s 59 million Affluents read an average of 18.7 issues across an average of 8.2 titles. Comparing publications measured in both 2011 and 2012, Affluent average-issue audience was relatively stable at -1.3%.

Atlantic Media Names SVP-Group Publisher

Atlantic Media promotes Lauf to senior VP-group publisher: Atlantic Media Co. has promoted Jay Lauf, VP-publisher of The Atlantic, to senior VP-group publisher of Atlantic Media Co. and publisher of Quartz, the company's business news brand that launches next Monday.

Hearst Prepares for Leadership Change

http://www.pubexec.com/aggregatedcontent/hearst-prepares-end-frank-bennack-era

Frank Bennack, chief executive of Hearst, is preparing to hand over the reins to Steven Swartz, his chief operating officer ushering in a new era for one of the world’s largest private media companies.
“We have a very bright and able chief operating officer. Specific dates and movements to succession haven’t been set or announced, but it’s clear that they’re not far into the future and that I’m working very hard with him,” Mr Bennack told the Financial Times.

Newspaper Employment Down 40.6% Since '01

http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/183378/newspaper-jobs-shrink-40-in-10-years.html?print

While plenty of industries have shrunk over the last couple of years, few have been hit as badly as newspaper publishing, which was already contracting before the economic downturn began. Since then, economic woes have simply reinforced the long-term trend.
According to the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, total employment in the newspaper publishing industry has plunged from 414,000 in 2001 to 246,020 in 2011, equaling a 40.6% drop in 10 years.

Quad/Graphics Actable & Milwaukee Magazie Interactive Issue

Quad/Graphics Actable Brings Milwaukee Magazine to Life: Every page is interactive, offering amazing and engaging reader experiences for editorial and advertising content. Quad/Graphics, Inc., announced today that its Actable interactive print solutions helped Milwaukee Magazine create its first entirely interactive issue. The October "Best of 2012" issue, on newsstands this week, features 146 image recognition and augmented reality experiences that readers can launch on their Actable-enabled smartphones and other mobile tablet devices.

Vertis Sells Its Prepress Packaging Assets

Vertis Sells Its Prepress Packaging Assets to SGS: Vertis Holdings and SGS International announced an agreement under which SGS will further augment its complete, design-to-print packaging solutions with the purchase of additional prepress packaging equipment, data files and certain related assets from Vertis.

BD White Birch Investment Completes Acquisition

BD White Birch Investment LLC completes acquisition of White Birch Paper Company:
BD White Birch Investment LLC today announced the successful completion of the acquisition of the assets of White Birch Paper Company. The completion of the acquisition represents the successful culmination of a nearly three year restructuring process, resulting in the formation of a newly revitalized and competitive enterprise.

Still No Union Agreement at Kruger Mill

http://www.thewesternstar.com/News/Local/2012-09-18/article-3077218/Still-no-deals-for-mill%26rsquos-trade-unions/1

It's been almost three months since the other unions inside the mill agreed to new collective agreements, but the two trades unions at Corner Brook Pulp and Paper are still without new contracts of their own.

Harbor Paper Restarts UFS Mill

Harbor Paper in Hoquiam, WA, started up a 75,000 tons/yr uncoated freesheet (UFS) paper machine No. 2 on Sept. 12, in line with what it had announced five weeks ago, and was working to restart the 80,000 tons/yr UFS PM 1 by mid-October, company pres/CEO John Begley told PPI Pulp & Paper Week today.

Oji Stops Coated Machine Production

Oji Paper has halted production on the sole paper machine at its Nantong mill in China for three days due to the anti-Japan unrest in the country.

A spokesman for Jiangsu Oji Paper, Oji's subsidiary that operates the plant in Nantong city, Jiangsu province, said that whether the 400,000 tonne/yr coated fine paper machine at the facility resumes production on September 19 as planned initially will depend on the situation.

China Files Dispute Against US Duties

On 17 September 2012, China notified the WTO Secretariat of a request for consultations with the United States on countervailing and anti-dumping measures applied to a wide range of products exported by China to the US. Among the products cited by China, affected by the measures, are paper, steel, tyres, magnets, chemicals, kitchen appliances, wood flooring, and wind towers.

Paperlinx Chairman Resigns

Paperlinx chairman resigns along with two board members:
He and non-executive directors Lyndsey Cattermole and Anthony Clarke announced their resignations today (19 September), with plans to leave in less than two weeks.

RH Continues with Unique Approach, "First of Kind" Catalogue

http://www.sfgate.com/business/article/Restoration-Hardware-catalog-a-huge-feat-3866807.php
RH (Restoration Hardware) is bucking a trend with its book-size mailing, advertising experts say. In recent years, retailers have scaled back on the size of their catalogs, used thinner paper and in some cases are sending out fewer per year. Restoration Hardware may be publishing its "source book" just twice a year, but the product - three companion pieces totaling 992 glossy, artfully styled pages of merchandise - shows no signs of skimping. The hope, say industry insiders, is that the breadth of the catalog will keep consumers from chucking it into the trash after a quick flip through, and it will instead become a lifestyle guide kept on hand for months.

Restoration Hardware executives have gone as far as to call the books "a first-of-its-kind hybrid of catalog, magazine and inspiration file."

Printed Inserts Market Grows

Printed inserts market grows despite impact of NOTW closure:
Saturday supplements carried the largest amount of inserts in Q4 2011 (359m), just over a third of the total 1bn across daily papers and weekend newspapers and supplements for the period, according to the Direct Marketing Association (DMA) Inserts Council report, published on 11 September.
Sunday newspapers showed the biggest growth in the second half of 2011 when they grew by 108% in Q3 compared to same period in the previous year (18.2m to 37.8m).

Quad/Graphics Rebrands Polish Subsidiary

http://www.bizjournals.com/milwaukee/news/2012/09/17/quadgraphics-rebrands-polish-subsidiary.html

Quad/Graphics Inc. announced Monday it is rebranding its Poland-based commercial printing subsidiary, QuadWinkowski, as Quad/Graphics.
Winkowski Logistics will change its name to Quad Logistics Europe, Quad/Graphics said.

Scholastic Offers XBOOKS to Students

http://mediaroom.scholastic.com/press-release/new-nonfiction-program-xbooks-designed-specifically-meet-common-core-state-standards-n

As students head back to school, districts are looking for classroom resources to help teachers fill key instructional gaps to meet the new, more rigorous Common Core State Standards.
To meet this need, Scholastic Classroom and Community Group is offering XBOOKS™, a nonfiction language arts program for middle schools, provides a collection of compelling informational texts in print and digital formats steeped in critical need-to-know science and social studies content.

Next Issue Media Ads More Titles to iPad

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/next-issue-for-ipad-catalog-grows-to-72-titles-170130176.html

Next Issue Media, a joint venture formed by five leading U.S.-based publishers – Conde Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc. – today announces 31 new titles, expanding the catalog for iPad^® subscribers to 72 popular magazines.  This expansion comes just two months after the launch of Next Issue for iPad and extends the value proposition for customers, offering unlimited access to all titles for a single, low monthly price.

Apple Places Few Magazine Ads

Magazine Publishers & The iPad: An Unrequited Love:
Apple hasn’t promoted the tablet computer in MPA member magazines since summer 2011 when they made a brief appearance within the industry’s pages, with the latest iPad campaign in magazines appearing from May-July 2011. During that time there were 21 ad pages placed strategically among 21 MPA monthly magazines, all with the same creative.
Why would they? Magazine publishers have been doting over the product and Apple not only with each other at industry events, or to media journalists like this reporter, but they have, essentially, been running ads for them.

eMarketer Forecast Robust Holiday Sales

http://www.emarketer.com/PressRelease.aspx?R=1009350

US retail ecommerce holiday sales (excluding travel) will reach $54.5 billion in 2012, up 16.8% over last year, according to eMarketer estimates.

Condé Nast Cutting Ad Budgets

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/cond-faces-more-cuts-143820

Condé Nast is asking its publishers to cut 5 percent from their budgets as the weak ad market is expected to bleed into the second half and beyond, company sources tell Adweek.