Magazine Media Giant Bolsters TV Holdings

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Des Moines-based Meredith Corp. has added to its stable of tv stations by acquiring two stations from Gannett Co. for $407 million, mediabistro.com FishbowlNY reported.

Meredith adds Top 25 Market St. Louis' KMOV-TV and KASW-TV in Phoenix to its holdings of 12 television stations and approximate 30 magazines with the purchase, which is expected to be finalized during the first quarter of 2014 pending FCC approval. The media conglomerate already owns Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO-TV.

Magazines--Fewer Start-ups, Fewer Closures--Period(ical)

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Citing the annual MediaFinder year-end report, Folio magazine (www.foliomag.com) reported 2013 marked five-year lows in the magazine industry for start-ups (185) and closures (56).

Industry watchers who see the glass as half-full will note the 3:1 ratio of periodical launches to shutdowns as evidence of a stabilizing of the industry. On the other hand, the 185 debuts are 18 percent fewer magazine launches than 2012 figures, according to the Folio article.

Food magazines and women magazines were the most popular genres for start-ups, with 23 new food titles and 13 new titles for women.  On the downside, sports magazines were the hardest hit titles among shutdowns.

The Red Bulletin: Something to Read After Energy Drink 'Gives You Wings'

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Whenever the hard-working staff of "TUOL" has a hankering for a refreshing cold can of taurine and glucuronolactone, we reach for Red Bull, the 26-year-old energy drink developed in Austria by the Red Bull GmbH company.

Like everyone else, we knew that 35 billion cans of the energy elixir have been consumed in more than 165 countries, but "TUOL" was surprised to learn, courtesy of Folio magazine (www.Foliomag.com), that the company's six-year-old magazine, The Red Bulletin, has a circulation of 2.7 million, is printed in five languages, and is available by subscription and on newstands.

The magazine, which also has a Web site and an app, is a stellar example of what industry types call "brand journalism." Published by the energy drink's media arm, Red Bull Media House, the magazine resembles other lifestyle periodicals. A recent issue, for example, included the following articles: "Actor Eric Bana discusses his vintage car fetish," "An interview with one of the developers of the new Call to Duty Game," and "Formula One driver rides one of the world's oldest motorcycles."

Compelling reading. Unfortunately, when the staff of "TUOL" slakes its thirst with caffeine-laced Red Bull, we can't sit still long enough to read a magazine.

Gun Mag Editor & Columnist Blasted; Lose Jobs Over Pro-Regulation Piece

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Guns & Ammo editor in chief Jim Bequette resigned, and contributing editor Dick Metcalf is out the door after Metcalf's last-page column in the December issue arguing gun regulation doesn't abridge Second Amendment rights backfired, drawing a hale of criticism from readers and threats of an advertising boycott.

Ad Age reported that Bequette apologized to readers for Metcalf's column in which Metcalf wrote: "The fact is all constitutional rights are regulated, always have been, and need to be." The contributing editor went on to write: "I don't think that requiring 16 hours of training to qualify for a concealed carry license is infringement in and of itself."  Heresy.

Guns & Ammo and parent company InterMedia Outdoors silently endured a barrage of online demands from readers that Metcalf be terminated, along with threats of cancelled subscriptions and advertiser boycotts, according to Ad Age. In his apology, Bequette said he miscalculated in believing the column would generate a discussion of gun regulation, and apologized for deviating from the magazine's unwavering commitment to the Second Amendment right to bear arms.

Apparently, Guns & Ammo subscribers will only accept an author shooting off his mouth if it happens accidentally while cleaning a rifle.

Newsstand's Last Stand?

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The Alliance for Audited Media ("AAM") today reported first-half magazine sales figures and the news continue to be bad, with celebrity and women's periodicals feeling the most pain, according to a New York Times article.

Paid subscriptions dipped 1 percent, compared to a 10 percent plunge in newsstand sales of magazines, AAM reported. Cosmopolitan was in free-fall, suffering a near 24 percent decrease in newsstand sales, and Glamour newsstand sales were 28 percent lower than the same period a year ago. Pre-Royal Baby, People witnessed an 11.8 percent drop-off in newsstand sales,  better than Us Weekly's 16.7 percent decrease or Life & Style's 20.9 percent plunge, the Times article reported. Vogue flew off the newstand shelves at a rate 10.4 percent below 2012 figures and Vanity Fair newsstand sales were down 11 percent.

Fortunately for the publishers of these titles, the AAM numbers offered a glimmer of hope through a boost in sales of digital versions of periodicals. in the first half of this year, 10.2 million digital replica editions of magazines were sold, 3.3 percent of all magazine sales, the Times article noted.

As the World Interns

In a gift seemingly more for comedy writers than  journalists, media blog JimRomanesko.com reported today about a Manchester, U.K.-based periodical in the works entitled Intern.

According to the fledgling journal's Web site (www.Intern-Mag.com), the magazine's dual purpose is to "provide a tactile showcase for the precocious talent currently working in these fields as interns or otherwise unpaid," and to launch a "frank debate about the current state of the intern culture and its potential implications in both the short and long term for the creative industries."

The Web site lists editorial contributors from the U.K, U.S. and throughout Western Europe and notes that the independent bi-monthly magazine is looking for financial support from donors and the Kickstarter Web site. 

The woefully underpaid staff of "TUOL" has the following questions for Intern: Will the magazine's circulation be paid, even if its staff isn't?, and When the magazine is published, will staffers send each other to pick up a newsstand copy and a coffee?

Periodicals Plunge in Single-Copy Sales Second Half of 2012

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Single-copy sales of magazines sank 8.2 percent over the second half of 2012, according to figures released by the Alliance for Audited Media (www.auditedmedia.com), formerly known as the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

Paid subscriptions during the period inched up less than 1 percent, according to the AAM figures. Baby boomers should take heart--AARP the Magazine (not to be confused with AARP, the opera) had the highest total paid and verified circulation, and Better Homes and Gardens and Game Informer also placing in the top five.

On the list of top 25 consumer magazines in the U.S. by single copy sales, the good news is that stalwarts Cosmopolitan topped the list and People came in fourth. The bad news is that in the second half of 2012, compared to the same period a year earlier, Cosmo was off 18 percent, and People, 12 percent, in single copy sales.

Some Stability in Magazine Industry

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Neither celebration nor hand-wringing is called for, as MediaFinder.com, the largest online database of U.S. and Canadian periodicals, reported the first three quarters of 2012 saw 155 magazines debut, a slight uptick from 151 new titles a year earlier, while only 55 magazines tanked, fewer than a third of the 119 publications that folded in the comparable period of 2011, according to an article by Crain'snewyorkbusiness.com.

Fueled by Fairchild Publications' M and Mississippi-based Mud & Magnolias, lifestyle periodicals helped to stop the hemorrhaging caused by declining ad space and shrinking circulation. The Crain's article cited MediaFinder statistics that 26 digital-only magazines launched during Q3 2012, including business journal Quartz, compared to six online titles that vaporized.

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.

A New Owner for Discover Magazine?

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"Science, Technology & the Future" is the slogan that appears below the title of Discovermagazine.com, but the future of the Website and monthly magazine with a 700,000 circulation is uncertain, according to FOLIO magazine.

Bidding to purchase the periodical begins May 17, and so far, FOLIO reports, about two dozen suitors are interested in perusing the offering memorandum. Private equity firms WallerSutton and Sandler Capital Management are the backers of Discover Media LLC. Disney Publishing sold Discover in 2005 to Bob Guccione, Jr., for roughly $15 million. Discover Media CEO Henry Donahue took over for Guccione in 2007.

Playboy: Nude-Free Website in the Offing?

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Paidcontent.org reports that Playboy Enterprises, Inc. has plans to debut TheSmokingJacket.com, a Website that folks can safely surf at their office computer because the online content will be bereft of pictures of "nekkid" women.

Okay, faithful "TUOL" readers, now that you've returned from visiting the site and seen for yourselves the "Coming Soon!" notice (make your own joke), you know that Playboy is promising online content that "brings you everything you love about Playboy, men's entertainment, and the Internet"--except for photo spreads of nubile, pneumatic young women who love horseback riding and hate phoniness.

A Playboy Website without nudity?  Wonder if other magazines will follow suit on their online alter egos. Looking forward to Better Homes & Gardens without any photos of homes or gardens, TV Guide sans program listings, and Cosmopolitan without neuroses.

Playboy Issues Multiplying Like Rabbits

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After a year of gloomy news regarding plunging circulation and staff cutbacks (see "TUOL" posts 3/1/10, 9/1/09), things are looking up for Playboy.

MediaWeek reports that the men's magazine plans to publish 11 issues this year and a full 12 issues in 2011, after previous reports that only 10 copies of the pulchritudinous periodical would appear on newsstands this year. Hugh Hefner's magazine recently outsourced its business operations to American Media, Inc. as a cost-savings measure, and circulation, which peaked at 7 million in the 1970s, hovers around 1.5 million nowadays.

Still, as contradictory as it may sound,  Playboy won't go bust

Trade Publisher Slashes Almost Two Dozen Magazines

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Reed Business Information-U.S., a business to business publisher owned by Reed Elsevier, will shutter 23 magazines, according to CEO Keith Jones.

Last summer, RBI successfully unloaded 21 publications, including Broadcasting & Cable and Publishers Weekly.  Among the 23 casualties are: Construction Equipment, Restaurants & Institutions, Professional Remodeler, Graphic Arts Monthly and HOTELS. Recently, RBI sold eight trade publications to Sandow Media.

"TUOL" will miss the centerfolds in Semiconductor International; always a guilty pleasure.

Magazine Industry: Fewer Births & Deaths

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The first quarter of 2010 witnessed a slowdown in the number of magazines going belly-up, but also fewer periodicals making their debut, according to online magazine database Mediafinder.com.

Folio reports that although 22 magazines ceased publications compared to a staggering 95 periodicals during the comparable period a year ago, the 1Q of 2010 saw 25 new publications, down from 110 new titles in the 1Q of 2009.  Home, food and health remain the topics that spawned new magazines.

Whereas 16 journals converted from print to online-only during 1Q 2009, only seven magazines switched to virtual-only editions in the first months of this year. Given the state of ad revenues and circulation  nowadays, the magazine industry subscribes to the credo: "Non-catastrophic news is good news." 

Playboy Sheds Jobs, Clothes

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The Chicago Tribune reports that Playboy Enterprises, Inc.'s restructuring and outsourcing of operations, such as production of Playboy magazine, could reduce the media conglomerate's 573 employees by half.

Prospective Playboy suitors have not panned out, and its stock is trading at $3.27 a share. The company is expanding its entertainment venues to include a casino in Mexico and a nightclub in Miami, according to the Tribune, amid concerns it may be spreading itself too thin.  It's ironic to ponder that Hugh Hefner's brainchild could go "bust," as it were.

Last Stand for Newsstands?

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Newsstand magazine sales plunged 9.1 percent over the last half of 2009 compared to the comparable six-month period in 2008, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC).

Among the 472 consumer titles examined by the ABC, W Magazine suffered the steepest newsstand decline of nearly 42 percent to 25,000 copies sold for an average issue, followed closely by Newsweek with more than a 41 percent dropoff to 62,000 copies sold on average, and SmartMoney, down 37 percent to 26,000 copies.

Magazine circulation, including subscriptions, declined 2.23 percent overall. TV Guide led the way with a 26 percent decline in circulation, edging out Readers Digest, whose circulation dropped 13 percent,  for the dubious distinction.

Not all the news was bad. Women's Health circulation rose 21 percent and Disney's FamilyFun circulation skyrocketed 16.7 percent.

Extra ! Extra! Read all about it--online, apparently.

Palin Periodical Hits Newsstand

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Sarah Palin: Faith, Family, Freedom, a glossy 100-page magazine published by a subsidiary of the IMG marketing firm and Imagine That Publishing, will be available through April 30 for those willing to dole out $8.99 for the periodical purportedly prepared without Palin's knowledge or authorization.

Editor/Publisher Steven LeGrice, founding editor of  In Touch magazine, said the journal is all in the words of the former almost 1-term Alaska Governor and current Fox News commentator without any opinion added in, which sounds like a fact-checker's and copy editor's worst nightmare. The periodical is replete with family photos the publisher obtained from private sources.

Included in the publication are segments on "Where Sarah Palin Stands on the Big Issues," and "The Wit & Wisdom of Sarah," which begs the question: Are there enough photos to fill 99 pages?  There are photos of Palin on her Going Rogue book tour and childhood pictures aplenty, including one featuring Palin, her siblings, and a dead bear bleeding over a stump. No, really.

"TUOL" believes LeGrice missed a golden opportunity by not having the magazine open from the right in honor of its namesake's politics. Wonder if Sen. John McCain plans on purchasing a copy, if for no other reason, than to complete the puzzle page.

Obama: 'Periodical President'

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Today's Washington Post features a puff piece about the various individuals and information sources on which President Barack Obama relies in formulating policy. No surprises concerning trusted individuals in the president's sphere, including First Lady Michelle Obama and advisors Rahm Emmanuel and David Axelrod. Axelrod reveals that President Obama reads magazines "like crazy," including Sports Illustrated, The Economist, Rolling Stone and The New Yorker.

Not much of susbstance here, but "TUOL" was taken by the contrast of the current chief executive's reading habits, compared to those of his predecessor, President George W. Bush, who stopped reading his favorite magazine, Highlights, because he became frustrated when he couldn't find the hidden spoon or bunch of bananas in the drawing.

'Bleak House': The Story of 2009 Magazine Ad Revenues

If you were shocked that Mark McGwire used steroids and never saw the ax falling on Jay Leno's prime time foray, you may be surprised by the Publishers Information Bureau 2009 magazine revenues report that reflects a near 26 percent decline in ad pages and revenues plummeting by 18 percent compared to the previous year. Try visualizing the loss of 58,340 advertising pages and the pall cast over an entire industry.

Since 2007, when  PIB began its quarterly tracking of ad pages and revenues, 10 of 11 quarters have seen shrinking numbers. In fact, only 18 consumer magazines reported ad page gains in 2009, chief among them, People's Style Watch, Ok!, Bonnier, Saveur, and Family Circle. Hardest hit were boating magazines and Architectural Digest.

Read it and weep, but for Heaven's sakes, at least read it.

Golf Digest to Play Through Without Woods' Column

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Golf Digest, the Conde Nast-owned monthly, has suspended the monthly instructional column written by the beleaguered Tiger Woods until the golf superstar returns from his self-imposed exile from the professional circuit.

Woods has an estimated $3 million exclusive long-term contract with Golf Digest. The magazine quietly acknowledged the column hiatus in an editorial note.  Woods' name will continue to appear on the magazine's masthead as Playing Editor. "TUOL" invites readers to make their own jokes--consider it a holiday gift.