UPDATE: New York Magazine Goes Biweekly Next March

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As reported here last month (see "TUOL" post 10/17/13), New York magazine will publish every other week beginning in March 2014, according to articles in The New York Times and The Wrap.

The 45-year-old magazine founded by Clay Felker, once the hub of "New Journalism" where writers such as Nora Ephon, Jimmy Breslin and Tom Wolfe flourished, hopes to realize $3.5 million in savings by cutting back 13 issues. The magazine will continue to publish its special issues devoted to the best doctors, food & drink and gift guide, according to The Wrap.

The magazine also will be rolling out a new style makeover. Although New York nabbed a 2013 best magazine award from the American Society of Magazine Editors, it has not escaped the dwindling ad pages and circulation drop-off that have plagued periodicals. Alliance for Audited Media figures place the magazine's subscriber base at 400,000, but ad pages this year declined 9.2 percent compared to year-ago figures.

At the same time, digital traffic is up 19 percent to nine million unique visitors monthly, according to comScore. The Times reported that the magazine plans to hire 15 staffers to bolster online content and ad sales.

New York is owned by the heirs of Bruce Wasserstein, who purchased the magazine in 2004 before his death in 2009.

New York: City May Never Sleep, but Magazine May Come Out Only Bi-weekly

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Flat circulation and dwindling ad revenues may force New York, the weekly magazine that Clay Felker debuted in 1968, to publish only biweekly in 2014, the New York Post reports.

New York CEO Anup Bagaria acknowledged that printing less frequently is one option being weighed. Like much of the industry, New York has been hurt by fewer ad pages in its print edition, suffering a 12 percent drop-off in 2008 from a peak 3,343 ad pages in 2007 and a 27 percent plunge in 2009. Meanwhile, circulation has stagnated at around 400,000 for the print version.

Digital ads account for half the journal's ad revenues, according to the Post article.