Next Time Around

Brandweek, Sept 4, 2000 by Jennifer Owens

Now that Pathfinder has been dismantled, Time Inc. magazine Web sites try to find their own way.

To say that Time Inc.'s stable of magazine Web sites has become decentralized is a bit of an understatement. Indeed, since the implosion of proto-portal Pathfinder--Time Inc.'s failed attempt, beginning in 1994, to create a comprehensive daily destination site that culled content from existing brand-name magazines such as Time and People--each newly freed site has seemingly taken on a life, not to mention differing approaches to content, staffing and ad sales, all its own.

Time.com/TimeDigital.com

The following is an attempt to track each of the magazine-related planets within Time Inc.'s online universe--after the big bang, natch.

Launch Date: Time.com launched on AOL September 1993/Time Digital, October 1998

Time.com Editor: Richard Stengel

TimeDigital.com Editor: Nathaniel Wice

Unique Visitors per Month: 3.4 million (June)

Staff: 24 (includes TimeDigital.com)

Highlights: With a new editor in place, Time.com is due to relaunch by the end of the year with a more global approach to news, although a new "Arts & Culture" weekend edition has already been added this month. Time.com has created "iCampaign 2000" as a special election mini-site, which includes "Email from the Trail" daily updates. In its biggest exclusive to date, Democratic candidate Al Gore penned an "Email from the Trail" himself. TimeDigital.com features a daily review of an electronic or Internet product, which complements a daily radio spot by Time Digital editor Joshua Quittner that goes out to 600 CBS affiliate radio stations.

Time for Kids

Launch Date: Relaunched Aug. 1

Editor: Joel Schwartzberg

Unique Visitors per Month: 250,000

Staff: 10

Highlights: Site originally launched as an online repository for its corresponding print title's content. Now the magazine's content makes up only 10 percent of the site's editorial offering. Recently launched the "Election Connection," a mini-site devoted to the presidential campaign. Also recently became premier news partner at AOL's Kids Only channel

CNNSI.com

Launch Date: December 1996

Managing Editor: Steve Robinson

Unique Visitors per Month: 2.16 million (June)

Staff: 100

Highlights: Includes Sports Illustrated for Women mini-site, which launched with a quarterly print title in March 1999. In addition to daily sports stories and contribution from SI columnists, the site is also home to mini-sites for major sporting events such as the PGA Tour and the Olympics.

Sports Illustrated for Kids

Launch Date: July 1995

Editor: Peter Kay

Unique Visitors per Month: Unavailable

Staff: 8

Highlights: This month, the site launched its own Olympics site featuring themed games, news reports and a draft-your-own-team feature. As many as 30,000 kids sign up for each two-week "season" of hockey, basketball, football and baseball. The site typically experiences a 50 percent increase in traffic when its print title hits newsstands.

People.com

Launch Date: Originally launched as part of Pathfinder in 1994

Editor: Stef McDonald

General Manager: M. Gary Ryan

Unique Visitors per Month: 4.5 million

Staff: 20

Highlights: Site is updated every morning; an opt-in e-mail newsletter was slated to relaunch last month. The site, which takes about 40 percent of its content from its print sister, has been developing its own original editorial features, including an online-only music column expected to launch Sept. 18, by magazine writer Chuck Arnold. The site also plans in October to create its own "Style Watch" column, based on the magazine's feature, but with additional content as well.

Teen People Online

Launch Date: January 1998; currently on AOL exclusively and expecting a return to teen people.com sometime this fall

General Manager: Peggy Mansfield

Editor in Chief: Laura Smith Kay

Unique Visitors per Month: 600,000

Staff: 21

Highlights: Launched simultaneously with its print magazine, while also becoming the first anchor tenant to AOL's Teens Channel. The site launched a year-long interactive animated series, Boy Band-O-Matic, chronicling the adventures of an aspiring, fictional boy band. After the Columbine shooting, the site provided updates and a forum for teens to discuss the news as it was happening and after; two days and more than 1,000 posts later, a story was developed for both the magazine and NBC's Dateline on teen opinions regarding cliques.

Entertainment Weekly Online

Launch Date: Originally launched with Pathfinder October 1994

Executive Editor: Michael Small

Unique Visitors per Month: 1.7 million (July)

Staff: 25

Highlights: In July, the site's 1.7 million unique visitors represented a 160 percent increase in traffic against February, when the magazine took over the site. Meanwhile, in its first six months back with the magazine, the ad sales staff has sold more space than in the prior 12 months. The site has syndication deals with sites such as AOL, Netscape and Alta Visa, which feature links back to EWO. In June, the site introduced an expanded search engine featuring all 10 years of EW content. Magazine writers and critics contribute to the site, while the site plans its own editorial packages to complement print features.