Reader's Digest Makes Job Cuts

Reader's Digest has eliminated 150 positions across all of its business groups worldwide, with half the cuts affecting jobs in the U.S. and the other half international.
The cuts are aligned with an effort to focus on the company’s “master brands,” including Reader’s Digest, Taste of Home and The Family Handyman, “that have the greatest potential to grow across multiple platforms and through new revenue streams, such as partnerships and licensing in markets around the world,” a Reader’s Digest spokesperson writes in an email to FOLIO.

Resolute Forest Products Moves Forward in Fibrek Acquisition

Resolute Forest Products (formerly AbitibiBowater) has formally commenced its offer to buy all issued and outstanding shares of Fibrek Inc., a producer of market pulp.  Based on Fibrek’s most recent publicly disclosed number of shares, the maximum amount of cash available under the offer is C$71,541,556. 

Catalyst Paper Reviewing Debt Structure, Defers Interest Payment

Catalyst Paper reported that while it continues its review of alternatives to address its capital structure, it will defer the ~$21 million interest payment on its outstanding 11% Senior Secured Notes due 2016 and Class B 11% Senior Secured Notes also due 2016.  The payment is due today.  The company said operations are expected to continue as usual and obligations to customers, suppliers and employees will be met in ordinary course.  Catalyst has 30 days within which to make the interest payment before triggering default.  Failure to do so would allow 2016 Note holders to declare the $390 million principal and accrued interest immediately due and payable.  If that demand were not satisfied in thirty days, it would constitute a default under the indenture relating to the company’s $250 million outstanding 7.375% Senior Notes due 2014.

Hearst’s Popular Mechanics Tries Personalized Ads

Though magazines have had the ability to publish customized editions for some time, the technology is evolving, allowing for less expensive production of individualized copies with, importantly, accountability measures to track results, always a key for advertisers.

300,000 subscribers to Popular Mechanics received customized content with their November issues; the magazine was bundled with an outsert from Hewlett-Packard that featured the recipient’s name and a scene of their hometown.  A 16-page insert in the magazine informed the reader of specific locations for HP products.  The promotion also contained URLs directing subscribers to an online contest, providing some indication (and measurement) of interest in the ads; 3% entered the contest, but 85% of the contestants clicked on QR codes in the insert that linked to more information on HP printers.

http://www.adweek.com/news/press/can-personalized-ads-save-magazines-137134

Source Interlink’s Buys Baseball America

In a move to expand its traditional sports portfolio, Source Interlink's GrindMedia bought Baseball America magazine and accompanying properties. Baseball America’s original staff will remain in the magazine’s Durham, North Carolina-based offices.

Heidelberg to Launch Digital Printing Portfolio

Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG (Heidelberg) is on the final stretch with the international market launch of its digital printing portfolio and is due to complete this by drupa 2012. The portfolio comprises the Ricoh Pro C901 Graphic Arts Edition digital printing system and the new Pro C751 series, which is available in the Pro C751, Pro C751 EX, and Pro C651 EX versions.

CEPIPRINT and CEPIFINE Merge into Euro-Graph

CEPIPRINT, the Association of European publication paper producers and CEPIFINE, the Confederation of European fine paper industries announced recently that on the 1st of January 2012 they will join forces to create a new Association based in Brussels. The Association, to be known as Euro-Graph, will represent over 30 companies, operating well over 100 paper mills in Europe, with an annual capacity of approximately 45 million tonnes of graphic papers.

RR Donnelley Gets New Contract with IMG

R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company today announced that it has been awarded a new multi-year multi-million dollar agreement by IMG, a global sports, fashion and media business with nearly 3,000 employees operating in 30 countries around the globe. Under the terms of the agreement IMG will draw on the resources of RR Donnelley's domestic and international platform for digital and interactive initiatives and other content production and distribution including magazines, direct response, event marketing materials and more.

2011 Magazine Launches Up 23.8%

Mediafinder.com reported that 2011 magazine launches jumped 23.8% over 2010, while closures declined by 13.6%.  There were 239 new titles published in this year and 152 shuttered.  Food magazine has the highest growth with 25 new titles.  There were 20 new regional magazines.  In the business-to-business sector, there were 62 new titles, as compared to 34 last year.  There were 38 closures; in 2010, there were 47.

USPS Announces Moratorium On Closures

The Postal Service has announced a five-month moratorium on the closure of post offices and mail processing facilities, in response to a request from 22 senators. The delay until May 15, 2012, is intended to give Congress more time to adopt legislation that would address the USPS financial crisis without drastic cuts in service.

Investlesprom Starts LWC Machine in Russia

A LWC paper machine was successfully started at the Investlesprom Kama mill in Krasnokamsk city (Perm region) in Russia.  PM 7 (PM No7 (Vaahto Paper Technology) )produced the first coated paper on November 3, 2011.  The estimated capacity is 86 thousand tons per year. The wire width of the machine is 3700 mm and design speed 1050 m/min.  

UPM to Build New Headquarters

UPM is planning a new headquarters in the Helsinki city center.  The proposed move will lower the company’s operating costs by ~2 million Euros.  The building will be owned by a real estate company, but UPM will rent for the long-term.  The lease for their current headquarters expires in 2013.

Separately, it was reported that UPM CEO Jussi Pesonen has been appointed chairman of the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI), effective in January.

PIB Reports Q2 Ad Spend Up 5.7%

The Publishers’ Information Bureau announced that, based on rate card estimates, advertising expenditures for the second quarter were $5.2 billion, a 5.7% jump as compared to the same period last year.  Ads featured in the titles tracked by PIB grew 0.8% to 43,000.  130 magazines reported increases.  Ad spending by automakers rose 28%; ad pages jumped 41%.  Food Network magazine gained the most, with ad sales up over 800% and ad pages more than doubling.

Verso Closing Two Sartell PMs This Week

As announced in October, Verso is shutting down paper machines 1 and 2 at its Sartell, Minnesota mill by the end of the week.  The machines produced ~104,000 short tons per year of Supercalendered paper.

http://www.sctimes.com/article/20111213/BUSINESS/112120053/Verso-nears-first-layoffs-175-employees-total-will-let-go?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Umbrella

Green Monday Online Sales Grow 19% Percent

ChannelAdvisor, a global e-commerce software provider, has announced that its customers experienced 19% growth in online same-store sales on Green Monday, traditionally the last day to purchase gifts online in order for items to arrive with standard shipping before Christmas.

Verso, Sappi & Publishers Partners in Forest Certification

Paper producers Verso and Sappi partnered with publishers Time, Inc. Hearst Enterprises and the National Geographic Society in a pilot project to secure environmental certification for more of Maine’s forestlands.  The first phase of the plan created a way to simplify the SFI certification process for medium size landowners, making it easier for them to develop, implement and coordinate land management to the third-party forest certification standard.  The second phase included additional landowners.  An additional 1.4 million acres/570,000 hectares have been SFI certified through the project.

Hearst to Launch Biannual Cosmopolitan Latina in 2012

Hearst’s Cosmopolitan [0] brand is looking to make headway into the strong and growing Hispanic market through the launch of the new English-language Cosmopolitan Latina. The standalone magazine, set to launch in May 2012, will be published in both print and digital format twice a year, starting with a distribution of 545,000 and with plans for an increase in frequency and distribution in 2013, according to Cosmopolitan publisher Donna Kalajian Lagani. The brand will have a “content hub” on Cosmopolitan.com for now, adds Lagani, but may eventually move to its own site. Former managing editor of Studio One Networks’ LasFabulosas.com [1]. Michelle Herrera Mulligan will edit the product, along with a freelance and internal staff.

Print Week News Roundup

This week: Pureprint installs third Indigo; H'berg boss claims print volumes to stabilise; Stewarts of Edinburgh closes; Newspaper consolidation gets backing; Antalis McNaughton launches waste scheme.

Top 5 Magazines YTD 9/2011

Moving into the last weeks of 2011, min takes a look at magazine group publishers' boxscore data for January - September 2011 versus 2010. Of the 23 consumer groups listed, 10 showed gains in ad pages. Biggest performer was Wenner Media (totaling 290.37 additional ad pages) with their three mags all showing growth in 2011: Men's Journal (+9.36%), Rolling Stone (8.42%) and US Weekly (+15.55%). The other four top group performers were Source Interlink, American Express Publishing, Condé Nast and Hachette Filipacchi.

More Using Smartphone to Get Magazines

There is increasing evidence of smartphone use in the U.S. overall and specifically for access to publications.  Recently, Affinity released the American Magazine Study, which said; ESPN the Magazine has more than 5 million smartphone visitors; People has almost 4 million; Sports Illustrated, WebMD the Magazine and TV Guide all have more than 3 million; TIME, Us Weekly and Entertainment Weekly have over 2 million; and Rolling Stone has over 1 million.

Google, with more than 150 publishing partners signed up, is launching an app for Android and Apple mobile devises.   Bonnier has four titles available through the venue, including Saveur, Popular Science, Transworld and Parenting.  CNET, AllThingsD, Forbes, Huffington Post and Fast Company are also “on board.” 

Separately, Zite, which is a free personalized news app for the iPad, is moving into the mobile market.