R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company today announced that it has been
awarded a multi-year multi-million dollar agreement by Workman Publishing
Co. to serve as its lead domestic and international printer as well as its
exclusive provider of fulfillment and distribution services. Workman
Publishing is an independent publisher and the creator of award-winning
calendars, cookbooks, parenting/pregnancy guides and fun educational children's
titles, as well as gardening, humor, self-help and business books.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Meredith Launches Allrecipies.com in Print
The Meredith Corporation is set to launch a print version of its popular
Allrecipies.com brand. The magazine is being rolled out as a bi-monthly
publication and is slated to debut in August.
Meredith is looking to buck the trend of print magazines moving into
digital-only publishing by going the opposite direction. "We believe in
multi-platform publishing and delivery," says Tom Witschi, executive vice
president of Meredith's Women's Lifestyle Group. "We are very good at
print and have had a lot of success with it, and it was clear from our testing
that this was going to be very well received," he adds. In addition to print, Allrecipes is also entering the television space with a branded segment tied into Meredith's The Better Show, which airs on the Hallmark Channel.
Regional Mag Maryland Life Closes Down
Regionals were among the most-launched
magazines in the first half of 2013, but there's still churn in the
segment.
Great State Publishing and its chief editorial product, regional
magazine Maryland Life,
have shut down after nine years, the company announced in
a statement. The already-released June issue will be its last. Dan Patrell, publisher and editor-in-chief of Maryland Life, blamed the closing on a lack of sales.
"We were actually doing well in advertising sales individually with our account executives, but the bottom line was that I didn't have enough of them and had a bear of a time finding additional salespeople or ways to increase the [existing] revenue streams," he tells FOLIO:. "The model that we had, as fantastic as the editorial was, wasn't sustainable."
NYT Adds Low Priced Product
http://www.adweek.com/news/press/new-york-times-moves-forward-low-priced-product-151152
The
New York Times is starting to make good on its promise
to develop a low-priced news product. Six months after having completed
staff cuts, Times executive editor Jill Abramson announced new
products and leadership shuffles to boost the paper's digital footprint.
Abramson
had already shaken things up back in January, elevating Larry Ingrassia and Ian
Fisher to assistant managing editors to focus on digital, among other changes.
With mobile traffic now accounting for nearly half the Times' Web traffic, she
said today's moves would position the paper to capitalize on that trend.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Domtar's CEO Expects Q2 Earnings to Dip
Domtar
Corp. today provided an update on its financial performance for the second
quarter of 2013. Domtar's management expects sales to be $1,312 million and
estimates the operating loss to be between $30 and $35 million.
EBITDA
before items1 will be between $130 and $135 million primarily due to
a combination of costs related to maintenance shutdowns, lower pulp
productivity, lower paper and pulp shipments and higher costs for freight.
During the second quarter of 2013, paper and pulp shipments stood at 801,000
tons and 344,000 metric tons, respectively. Estimated operating loss in the second quarter of 2013 includes a litigation settlement charge of $49 million, closure and restructuring costs of $18 million, a charge of $5 million related to the impairment and write-down of property, plant and equipment, and depreciation and amortization of $93 million.
RISI Names VP, Mill Intelligence
RISI,
the leading information provider for the global forest products industry, today
announced the hiring of Jonathan Rager as Vice President of its Mill
Intelligence business.
A
20+ year veteran of the forest products industry, Jon comes to RISI from Pöyry
Management Consulting where he managed a technical strategy practice area. He has
also worked in the corporate lending sector at GE Capital to provide financing
to companies in this industry. Earlier in his career Jon held various process
engineering and operations roles with several pulp and paper producers. He has
a bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with honors from The Pennsylvania
State University.
GAO: No to Eliminating Paper Drug Labeling
Eliminating paper drug labeling such as package inserts in favor of e-labels
could compromise the availability of information for some patients, physicians,
and pharmacists, a government study found.
Stakeholders provided no consensus on the advantages or disadvantages of
relying on drug labeling available only electronically, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said in a report
Monday.Drug manufacturers have supported eliminating paper labels, whereas patient advocates suggest it could adversely affect public health.
Catalyst Pays Municipal Tax
http://www.avtimes.net/catalyst-pays-4-190-777-2013-municipal-tax-bill-1.505876
Catalyst Paper paid its 2013 municipal tax bill of $4,190,777, out of which $3,801,120 is the municipal portion for the Port Alberni paper mill.
As per the 2012 wastewater treatment facility and Redford street property sale agreement with the city, Catalyst Paper's property taxes will be frozen for the next four years at the 2012 rate.
Catalyst Paper paid its 2013 municipal tax bill of $4,190,777, out of which $3,801,120 is the municipal portion for the Port Alberni paper mill.
As per the 2012 wastewater treatment facility and Redford street property sale agreement with the city, Catalyst Paper's property taxes will be frozen for the next four years at the 2012 rate.
Publishers Try a Different Kind of Pay Wall
http://adage.com/article/media/publishers-pay-walls-watching-video-key/243069/
Publishers including Maxim, Radar Online, Guitar World and USA Today Sports Media are experimenting with a pay wall that instead of charging readers requires them to watch an advertiser's video.The tactic, which uses a system called Content Unlock from Genesis Media, is meant to help address the disconnect between advertisers' interest in buying web video and consumers' desire to watch enough of it. Most Americans will devote 15 seconds to a given web video before skipping off elsewhere, according to a 2012 Poll Position study. Just 12% will give a video ad 30 seconds. And trying to force consumers to watch ads before a single, brief video can be problematic.
Publishers including Maxim, Radar Online, Guitar World and USA Today Sports Media are experimenting with a pay wall that instead of charging readers requires them to watch an advertiser's video.The tactic, which uses a system called Content Unlock from Genesis Media, is meant to help address the disconnect between advertisers' interest in buying web video and consumers' desire to watch enough of it. Most Americans will devote 15 seconds to a given web video before skipping off elsewhere, according to a 2012 Poll Position study. Just 12% will give a video ad 30 seconds. And trying to force consumers to watch ads before a single, brief video can be problematic.
MediaPost Mag Bag
Fitness, Men's Journal Team For Ad Sales
Magazine publishers package their own titles together for ad sales all the
time, but it’s much less common to see titles owned by two different publishers
collaborating.
That's what's happening with a new ad sales partnership between Fitness, owned by Meredith Corp., and Men's Journal, owned by Wenner Media. The
partnership covers the titles’ print and digital assets.The ad sales alliance, announced earlier this week, will allow Fitness and Men's Journal to offer a bigger circulation footprint to advertisers that cuts across gender lines, making them more competitive with big health and fitness publishers like Rodale. The two magazines together have an average circulation of 2.24 million, according to the Alliance for Audited Media (Fitness, 1.53 million, Men's Journal, 714,000), putting them in the same league as titles like Men's Health, with 1.9 million; Women’s Health, with 1.58 million; and Shape, with 1.63 million.
The first advertisers to tap the Fitness-Men's Journal tie-up include outdoor recreational apparel and equipment brand Marmot, which is placing ads in both titles for its “Lead Now” initiative, promoting a one-year global climbing expedition by Paige Claassen. The program, which will run through June 30, 2014, includes a series of Webisodes, editorial coverage of Paige's journey, and online and social media promotion.Another advertiser, The Beef Checkoff, is running a four-page ad unit focused on summer grilling in both magazines, along with two other Meredith titles.
Reader’s Digest Cuts Rate Base
Reader’s Digest Association is cutting the guaranteed circulation of its flagship magazine from 5.5 million to three million. The move comes as RDA undergoes its second bankruptcy reorganization with the approval of various creditors, including the sale of various properties, such as Everyday With Rachael Ray and Allrecipes.com, to focus on the core Reader’s Digest brand. The company expects to exit Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by the end of the month.
And more...
How Investing in Print Could Pay Off
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-07-11/how-investing-in-print-could-pay-off#r=nav-r-story
News Corp. Time Warner. Now, Tribune. They’re all spinning off their declining print businesses.
Why would anyone buy these orphans? Because they will offer pure plays on what promises to be more mergers and acquisitions in the industry. It might even get exciting.
“The spun-off publishing companies may be better positioned to consolidate the shrinking newspaper and magazine industries,” says Paul Sweeney of Bloomberg Industries.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Publishing, he notes, will be the biggest U.S. publisher, with $8.2 billion in revenue and $1.3 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Its $2.6 billion in cash and no debt leave it primed to acquire titles. Murdoch has been seeking ways to take out Tribune’s (TRBAA)Los Angeles Times, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News in March. Last year, News Corp. (NWS) management looked into acquiring about a fifth of Time Inc.’s (TWX) magazine titles, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who asked
not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
According to Bloomberg, News Corp. Publishing has more cash at its disposal than any print competitor. “They will be acquisitive—that’s the way they operate,” Karen Klapper, a debt analyst at CreditSights, told Bloomberg’s Edmund Lee on July 1. “That’s the only way it grows. Publishing is only going one way these days, and it’s not up.”
News Corp. Time Warner. Now, Tribune. They’re all spinning off their declining print businesses.
Why would anyone buy these orphans? Because they will offer pure plays on what promises to be more mergers and acquisitions in the industry. It might even get exciting.
“The spun-off publishing companies may be better positioned to consolidate the shrinking newspaper and magazine industries,” says Paul Sweeney of Bloomberg Industries.
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. Publishing, he notes, will be the biggest U.S. publisher, with $8.2 billion in revenue and $1.3 billion in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Its $2.6 billion in cash and no debt leave it primed to acquire titles. Murdoch has been seeking ways to take out Tribune’s (TRBAA)Los Angeles Times, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg News in March. Last year, News Corp. (NWS) management looked into acquiring about a fifth of Time Inc.’s (TWX) magazine titles, according to two people with knowledge of the matter who asked
not to be named because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
According to Bloomberg, News Corp. Publishing has more cash at its disposal than any print competitor. “They will be acquisitive—that’s the way they operate,” Karen Klapper, a debt analyst at CreditSights, told Bloomberg’s Edmund Lee on July 1. “That’s the only way it grows. Publishing is only going one way these days, and it’s not up.”
Folio: People on the Move
Mike Smith has been named vice president, revenue platforms and operations,
at Hearst Magazines Digital Media. He was formerly president of Forbes.com and
chief digital officer at Forbes Media.
Hearst Men’s Group has named Lisa Boyars
to the position of executive director, group marketing. Boyars had been working
for Condé Nast Media Group since 2007.
Stacy Nathan
has been named advertising director at Allure. Nathan had previously
been advertising director at Marie Claire. Stacy Bettman has been
promoted to associate publisher at Allure where she had been advertising
director.
Glam Media, Inc. has made several additions to its sales team throughout the country:
Leah Corselli has been hired as vice president,
sales for the West Coast. Glam Media, Inc. has made several additions to its sales team throughout the country:
Theresa Boras has been named director of East Coast sales. She brings experience from her positions at AOL, CBS Interactive and Fairfax Media.
Christine Clark has been promoted to senior vice president of U.S. sales.
Kari King has been promoted to vice president, U.S. sales-Central & West.
UBM Tech’s Information Week announced the hiring
of four new editors and one promotion:
Wyatt Kash joins as editor of InformationWeek Government.
Shane O’Neill joins as managing editor. He had been assistant managing editor at CIO.com.
Alexandra Rudansky joins as associate editor of InformationWeek Healthcare.
Kristin Burnham joins as senior editor. Burnham had most recently served as senior writer at CIO.com.
Wyatt Kash joins as editor of InformationWeek Government.
Shane O’Neill joins as managing editor. He had been assistant managing editor at CIO.com.
Alexandra Rudansky joins as associate editor of InformationWeek Healthcare.
Kristin Burnham joins as senior editor. Burnham had most recently served as senior writer at CIO.com.
James Donahue has been promoted to managing editor.
He was previously copy chief at InformationWeek.
And more...
And more...
Digital's Share of Print Market, 20.6% By 2018
By 2018, digital
printing will equal 50% of the global offset sector, and be higher in the more
mature print regions, according to a new study from Smithers Pira titled, The
Future of Offset vs Digital Printing to 2018.
In 2008, digital accounted for a little under 18.5% of the offset market in
value terms. Continuing falls in run length is the key reason for the
adoption of digital technology by many offset companies, together with the
recent improvements in digital print technology.
Key findings:
Digital's share of the total print market will
grow from 9.8% in 2008 to 20.6% in 2018, led by inkjet technology where
improvements in productivity and reliability are making digital printing more
cost effective over higher runs.By 2018, the digital printing market will grow from $131.5 billion in 2013 to $187.7 billion -- a compound annual growth rate of 7.4%.
The global volume of all offset prints will fall by 10.2% between 2008 and 2018, while digital print volume is forecast to grow by 68.1%.
North America Ranked as Top Market for M&A
Forty
percent of business executives, whose organizations are contemplating merger
and acquisition (M&A) transactions in 2013, expect the deals will occur
in North America. According to a recent Deloitte online poll, more than
one quarter of these deals (28 percent) will be under $1 billion.
Additionally,
more than two-thirds of executives (67.1 percent) expect the U.S. economy to
continue improving throughout the year, with 76 percent of respondents
significantly optimistic, more optimistic or maintaining their existing level
of optimism about the M&A market for the remainder of the year.
Judge: Apple Conspired to Raise E-book Prices
Apple Inc. broke antitrust laws and conspired with publishers to raise
electronic book prices significantly in spring 2010, a federal judge ruled
Wednesday, citing “compelling evidence” from the words of the late Steve Jobs.
U.S. District Judge Denise Cote said Apple knew that no publisher could risk
acting alone to try to eliminate Amazon.com’s $9.99 price for the most popular
e-books so it “created a mechanism and environment that enabled them to act
together in a matter of weeks to eliminate all retail price competition for their
e-books.”
Thursday, July 11, 2013
Investigation Moves Shandong Huatai to Shut PM
Shandong
Huatai Paper has halted production on a 400,000 tonne/yr newsprint PM at its
flagship mill in Dongying city, Shandong province due to a pollution
investigation.
A spokesperson from the firm said that PM 11 has suspended production.
The
machine was supplied by Voith Paper and started up in 2005. It has a width of
10.2 m and a design speed of 2,000 m/min.A spokesperson from the firm said that PM 11 has suspended production.
In mid-May, China's Ministry of Environment issued a circular listing several pollution cases.
According to the circular, Shandong Huatai has not properly treated sludge at its storage yard, and its landfill site does not have the necessary water treatment facilities to handle the sludge.
This is not in compliance with the country's regulations on waste treatment.
The ministry made the firm to halt production and requires it to solve the issue by the end of November.
Early last month, Shandong Huatai said the incident would not affect its production.
However, it recently announced it would suspend production on the PM, explaining that the firm planned to use the presently inadequate landfill site to handle the sludge from the unit.
Shandong
Huatai has long been China's biggest newsprint producer.
IP Raises Paperboard Prices
International
Paper has informed customers of new $45/ton price increases on coated bleached
paperboard grades effective July 29.
The
company will raise its Everest grades of folding carton board and clay coated
bleached liner as well as its Fortress grade of folding carton board and all
Starcote grades.IP will also raise its Carolina coated one-side blanks from 14 pt to 28 pt caliper by the same amount.
Caraustar Raises Core, Tube Prices
Caraustar
Industries, Inc. announced a price increase of 5% on all paper tube and core
product lines.
The increase will be effective with shipments beginning August 1, 2013. The increase is primarily in response to increases in recycled paperboard prices and other external costs.
The increase will be effective with shipments beginning August 1, 2013. The increase is primarily in response to increases in recycled paperboard prices and other external costs.
Paper Industry/European Commission Bio Initiative
Today 48 companies joined forces with the European Commission to set up an
unprecedented Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for bio-based industries. The
PPP brings together €3.8 billion to advance the bioeconomy in Europe. The
European pulp and paper industry is a strategic partner in this PPP, with 13 of
the 48 member companies from the sector as well as CEPI (Confederation of
European Paper Industries) as an associate member.
Pitney Bowes on Royal Mail Privatization
Plans to
privatise the Royal Mail were announced today by business minister Michael
Fallon, who said that: "it is increasingly being run as a commercial
business, it has modernised thanks to the efforts of management and indeed the
workforce. It's been turned round in the last two or three years and it's ready
now to take its place as one of the great British companies.”
Ian Davidson,
President of Pitney Bowes GMS, said: “The Royal Mail must support small to
medium businesses in facing challenges as they seek to retain, acquire and
cross-sell their services in a tough economic climate. Without the
support of metered mail and secure discounts, the Royal Mail’s services could
be devalued due to the additional costs companies would have to absorb sending
business mail. If metered mail discounts are protected, then this
privatisation is something Pitney Bowes is prepared to support.”
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