Is Brazil Nuts for HuffPo?

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The eighth international edition of news aggregator supreme, The Huffington Post, will soon launch in Brazil, Media Week (www.mediaweek.co.uk) reports.

In expanding operations to its fifth continent, HuffPo, which is owned by AOL, targeted the world's fifth-largest online audience, as Brazil boasts 100 million Internet users, according to Media Week. HuffPo's partner in the deal is the Abril Group, which has 40 editorial Web sites.

Other global editions of HuffPo include the United Kingdom (see "TUOL" post 6/22/11), France (see "TUOL" post 1/23/12), Japan (see "TUOL" post 5/8/13), Spain, Italy, Canada and Maghreb. The World Cup, the Summer Olympics, and Arianna Huffington--it's almost too much for one country to bear.

Hearst Thumbs Through, But Doesn't Buy BBC Periodicals

Image via WikipediaWith the New York-based Hearst Corp. ready to open its wallet to pay cash for international magazines from French publisher Lagardere (see "TUOL" post 1/3/11), apparently its National Magazine Co. is turning the page on acquiring BBC Magazines, according to a report in Media Week.

Hearst Magazines International, which boasts ownership of more than 200 magazines in more than 100 nations, will not be adding  Top Gear, Radio Times, Good Food, Gardeners Times or any other BBC periodical to its stable. German publishing conglomerate Bauer is expected to step in to favored prospective buyer role abandoned by Hearst.

Plunging Periodical Newstand Sales

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First-half 2010 newsstand sales figures for magazines improved over 2009 results, but that's not saying much.

According to www.MediaWeek.com, citing Magazine Information Network(MagNet) data, first-half newstand sales declined 7.7 percent to more than 451 million units, compared to a 12.4 percent decline in 2009. MagNet, which consolidates magazine wholesaler information, said news, auto and entertainment titles were hardest-hit, while sales of food and sports periodicals actually increased.

Newstand sales account for roughly 13 percent of all magazine circulation. Observers are not optimistic about third-quarter sales results. Changing consumer behavior, the recession, and a spike in the price of magazines, which has climbed since 2008 from an average $4.11 to $4.60, are blamed for the disappointing first-half results.

Meanwhile, the Audit Bureau of Circulations said the average circulation of 440 magazine titles declined 2.3 percent in the first half of 2010 compared to the comparable period in 2009. Playboy and Reader's Digest were the biggest circulation losers, according to accounts in www.Bloomberg.com and www.PaidContent.org.