That the Meredith/Time deal was even proposed suggests how
much publishing has changed. With the advent of the Internet, the primary
sources of revenue—circulation and advertising—have eroded, while the costs of
printing magazines—ink, paper, and distribution—continue to rise. In the 20th
century, publishers of all shapes and sizes looked to Henry Luce’s Time Inc.
for ideas on how to make profitable magazines. But in the months and years to
come, they are much more likely to look to Meredith to figure out how to
survive.
Meredith has profited from a few key strategies.
They are experts at repurposing their content across multiple platforms
(magazines, books, websites, mobile devices, tablets, etc.) and aggressively
look beyond advertising and circulation for revenue. In print, they stay as far
away from the news as possible. They are particularly successful at licensing
their magazine titles’ names to major national businesses selling branded
products; they also run their own marketing agency. Meredith hasn’t been immune
to the forces battering the industry. But over the past decade, by
strategically tweaking their portfolio, they’ve managed to maintain steady
profits and reliable margins year after year in spite of the turbulence.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Time Spinoff: Hunter or Prey?
The spinoff of Time Inc. to create the
world’s largest publicly traded magazine publisher may be just the beginning of
deals for the owner of People and Sports Illustrated.
With analysts estimating an enterprise value
of about $3.9 billion, Time Inc. would be bigger than any other publicly held
company focused on magazine publishing after it separates from Time Warner Inc.
(TWX), according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Following a failed attempt
to divest some magazines to Meredith Corp. (MDP) (MDP), Time Inc. could buy Meredith,
which is half its projected size, to consolidate costs, said Wunderlich
Securities Inc. Or, Time Inc.’s titles and its more than $3 billion in annual revenue may
lure private-equity interest, said Wedbush Inc. Time Inc. “could either be an acquisition target for a larger, traditional publishing company or it could itself be an acquirer,” Brett Harriss, a Rye, New York-based analyst at Gabelli & Co., which owns Time Warner shares, said in a telephone interview. “It’s clear that magazine publishing is likely in secular decline. That being said, it doesn’t mean it’s valueless.”
MediaPost Mag Bag: Garden Design Closed & More
Garden Design has been closed by Bonnier Corp., effective
March 13, Min Online reported. Bonnier
cited the uncertain economic climate, the shift to digital media, and a tough
advertising environment as reasons for the closure...
Macy’s is launching a new fashion line for
young women called Teen Vogue through a
licensing deal with Condé Nast, which publishes the magazine. According to Women’s Wear Daily (which is also owned by Advance
Publications), the fashion line was developed by Macy’s in collaboration with
editors from the magazine... Eddie Ross has been named East Coast produce/editor for print and digital at Better Homes and Gardens, Meredith Corp. announced this week...
Condé Nast had a busy week, with a veritable raft of new products and staffing news. On Wednesday, Condé Nast revealed that Anna Wintour, has been given yet another role; artistic director for the entire company. Also this week, Condé Nast Entertainment, the company’s new video division, unveiled its first online video offerings, with new video players for GQ and Glamour. On the ad tech front, this week Condé Nast joined The New York Times Co.’s Ricochet, a digital platform that allows advertisers to pair their ads with specific pieces of editorial content for sharing via social media, email, and other channels. And more...
2013 e-Commerce Revenue Forecast at $262 Billion
Forrester predicts e-commerce revenue will reach $262 billion this year: E-commerce sales will reach $262 billion this year, up 13% over last year, making up 8% of total retail sales, according to a new report from Forrester Research.
January Commercial Print Ships Up
January 2013 commercial printing shipments
were $6.3 billion, up +$148 million (+2.4%) compared to 2012. On an inflation-adjusted
basis, shipments were up +$50 million (+0.8%). This followed a poor December,
where shipments were down -3.4% in current dollars. The December decrease and
January increase may have been affected by small and mid-size businesses
delaying expenses until January as part of their management of new tax laws.
RRD Closes Debt Offering
RR Donnelley Closes $450 Million Debt Offering:
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company announced that it has closed an offering of $450 million aggregate principal amount of 7.875 percent Notes due 2021.
R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company announced that it has closed an offering of $450 million aggregate principal amount of 7.875 percent Notes due 2021.
Thursday, March 14, 2013
UPM Sells SC PM to Shandong Tralin
UPM has sold the 220,000
tonne/yr supercalendered (SC) paper unit PM 7 at its shuttered Myllykoski mill
in southern Finland to Shandong Tralin Paper Company in China. The sales price
was not revealed.
Dismantling of the machine
started in early March and should be done by the end of June, TimoSuutarla, general manager of the Myllykoski mill.
The PM will be relocated to Gaotang County in the province of Shandong in China, according to a Tralin spokesperson. The machine will be converted to make food wrapper from straw pulp.
The Tralin spokesperson declined to comment on what kind of alterations the PM needs, what capacity it will have after the rebuild or when production should start.
Three US Mills Raise Carbonless Price
Appleton said it will raise
prices 6% on its NCR Paper carbonless sheets, Fluorescents sheets, and non-paper
products effective with shipments April 1 in the US and Canada.
Glatfelter also set a 6% price
increase for its carbonless sheets grades sold in all global markets effective
April 1.Nekoosa Coated Products will also raise carbonless sheet prices, industry sources said.
More European Mills Raise Prices
The number of German paper
traders seeking to hike prices for graphic paper in April keeps rising.
Since Deutsche Papier got the ball rolling by announcing a 7% hike for all graphic paper grades from April 1, several other market players have revealed similar plans.
Papier Union, which is part of
the Inapa group, said it is aiming at 7% increases for all graphic papers from
April 2. The firm ascribed the move to price hike announcements from
papermakers and said it was unable to compensate for rising purchasing prices.Since Deutsche Papier got the ball rolling by announcing a 7% hike for all graphic paper grades from April 1, several other market players have revealed similar plans.
Igepa announced 6-7% hikes for all deliveries of sheeted graphic products from April. "Due to cost increases for energy and raw materials, especially pulp, the price adjustment is inevitable," the firm said in a statement.
Two Sides: Misleading Claims About Print/Paper
Two Sides Urges Leading U.S. Companies to End Misleading Claims About Print and Paper: Two Sides has announced the next stage of its nationwide initiative to urge major U.S. banks, utilities and telecommunication companies to end the use of misleading marketing claims about the sustainability of print and paper. Phase Two will include a second round of communication intended to initiate productive discussion with senior management in the target industries, reminding them of their responsibility to adhere to best practices for environmental marketing as outlined in the U.S. Federal Trade Commission’s recently revised Green Guides.
Hearst Magazines Installs DALIM ES, DALIM TWIST
Hearst Magazines Installs DALIM ES and DALIM TWIST for Print and E-Media Workflow: Kehl, Germany – Hearst Magazines is implementing the DALIM ES system across its magazine brands, simplifying production workflow, especially for electronic editions, the emerging channel in which Hearst leads the industry with a circulation of 886,000. Blanchard Systems, North American Distributor of Dalim Software, worked closely with Hearst through the testing and evaluation.
US Caustic Soda Supply Tight
Demand from non-traditional export
destinations is straining US caustic soda
availability, a market source said on Monday.
Growing demand for US caustic soda from Africa, Australia and Europe, regions not considered conventional targets for US caustic, is placing upward pressure on prices, the source said on the sidelines of the 18th annual Plastimagen international plastics exposition and conference. -->
Price increases of $30-50/dry short ton (dst) (€23-39/dst) announced by US producers remain under discussion. Suppliers have said the proposed hikes are driven by snug availability and steady demand.
Growing demand for US caustic soda from Africa, Australia and Europe, regions not considered conventional targets for US caustic, is placing upward pressure on prices, the source said on the sidelines of the 18th annual Plastimagen international plastics exposition and conference. -->
Price increases of $30-50/dry short ton (dst) (€23-39/dst) announced by US producers remain under discussion. Suppliers have said the proposed hikes are driven by snug availability and steady demand.
Print vs. Digital Debate Continues
Industry
gurus (and Publishing Executive columnists) Bob Sacks and Samir
"Mr. Magazine" Husni engaged in a lively, spontaneous Twitter debate
yesterday
on the future of print vs. digital.
Both agree reading on paper will not disappear, but beyond that the two diverge. Husni thinks paper will remain a vital magazine medium, encapsulating an experience not replicable on tablets, while Sacks believes paper will become a pricey niche format.
So, who's right? After an experience I had last night, while all this tweeting was going on, I find myself leaning toward the Husni camp.
Both agree reading on paper will not disappear, but beyond that the two diverge. Husni thinks paper will remain a vital magazine medium, encapsulating an experience not replicable on tablets, while Sacks believes paper will become a pricey niche format.
So, who's right? After an experience I had last night, while all this tweeting was going on, I find myself leaning toward the Husni camp.
The Fall - And Rise - of Magazines
Challenging times lie ahead for
magazines. The Audit Bureau of Circulations figures published last month made
grim reading.
But these figures are only a
partial reflection of what is really going on. The industry trade body, the Professional
Publishers Association, released its first combined digital and
print circulation chart alongside the traditional ABC figures and its CEO Barry
McIlheney says that for many titles, such as Conde Nast's GQ and Future's technology
magazine, T3, a combined figures is a truer reflection of how the industry is
faring.Indeed, some sectors are doing quite nicely and all magazines are built around the twin pillars that have always eluded newspapers – passion and community. The most successful ones are returning to their roots.
Ricochet Adds Condé Nast Titles, Forbes & More
Ricochet, the content marketing platform
launched by The New York Times Co. in April of last year, is adding a number of
publications to its list of partners, including the entire Condé Nast magazine
portfolio, People, Forbes and Advertising
Age.
RDA: Gains in Readers & Advertisers
The
Reader’s Digest Association, Inc., the global multi-brand and multi-platform
media and direct marketing company, today released CY2012 and first quarter
2013 figures which demonstrated a strong, growing demand for its North American
media brands from print and digital readers and advertisers alike.
Advertising revenue across all U.S. digital
properties increased 35% over 2011 led by the Reader’s Digest flagship,
which grew its digital advertising revenue by 94%.
CEOs Expect Sales, Capital Spending Growth
The results of Business Roundtable’s (BRT) first quarter 2013
CEO Economic Outlook Survey show CEOs’ expectations for the economy over the
next six months have improved due to expected higher sales and capital spending.
CEO economic expectations
increased for the first time in four quarters. BRT CEOs also expect 2.1 percent
growth for 2013, a slight increase from last quarter’s estimate of 2.0 percent.
Did Time Lag in Offering Paid Content?
http://www.adweek.com/news/press/did-time-inc-miss-paid-content-boat-147870
Time Inc. was a pioneer at the dawn of the Internet
revolution, creating in the '90s the prescient if ultimately ill-fated online
portal Pathfinder to host its magazines. But today, it isn't even keeping pace
with its smaller print brethren, and one area in which it has particularly
lagged is paid content.
While other major magazine publishers as well as newspapers have
made advances reversing what the Internet has wrought and getting consumers to
pay for digital content, Time Inc. still lags. In the spring of 2011, the
company's biggest rivals, Condé Nast and Hearst, made deals to sell
subscriptions to their magazines' tablet editions in Apple’s iTunes store. It
took Time Inc. more than a year to follow
suit.
Asset International Expands to Europe
Asset International Segmenting aiCIO Brand Across Europe: New York-based b-to-b media publisher Asset International, which serves the the finance market, is continuing its growth into the European market by further segmenting its aiCIO (chief investment officer) brand into more regionally-focused editions. Since launching in 2009, the brand has averaged 50 percent revenue growth each year—spread across digital, events and print.
ePublishing Acquires Next-Tech Markets
ePublishing Acquires B2B Audience Network:
Cloud-based CMS, ecommerce and CRM services provider ePublishing has acquired Next-Tech Markets and its advertising network of business publishers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Next-Tech's B2B Audience Network is primarily made up of industrial, energy, defense, greentech, medical, IT and emerging technologies publishers, and includes more than 300 online publications for clients including UBM, Cygnus and GIE Media. The acquisition brings ePublishing's client total to about 800, says Thomas Chaffee, the firm's CEO.
Cloud-based CMS, ecommerce and CRM services provider ePublishing has acquired Next-Tech Markets and its advertising network of business publishers.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Next-Tech's B2B Audience Network is primarily made up of industrial, energy, defense, greentech, medical, IT and emerging technologies publishers, and includes more than 300 online publications for clients including UBM, Cygnus and GIE Media. The acquisition brings ePublishing's client total to about 800, says Thomas Chaffee, the firm's CEO.
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