Wenner's Us Goes Weekly

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, Oct, 1999 by Dzintars Dzilna

To provide immediacy to advertisers, the entertainment title ups frequency and prepares to go head-on against Time Inc.'s weeklies.

Wenner Media's bold decision to increase the frequency of Us to weekly and compete against Time Inc.'s powerhouse weeklies is a big gamble for a title that only eight years ago reduced frequency from twice-monthly to monthly in order to become profitable.

US Weekly, the latest incarnation in the life of the 22-year-old title, hits the newsstands on March 17th, 2000. It will be more news-driven in its coverage of entertainment and celebrity lifestyle, and Wenner is betting that the more timely frequency will open the door to increased ad revenues and single-copy sales. But given the lock that Time Inc. has on the celebrity/entertainment/pop-culture space with People Weekly and Entertainment Weekly, Wenner may discover little room for a number-three.

The reaction from Time Inc. to the new competition was business as usual. "We're watching with great interest," says People Weekly spokeswoman Susan Ollinick. She adds that the title is not planning to make any changes in single-copy marketing or advertising strategies. "We're already doing everything we can to run an efficient and successful business."

Time-sensitive ad base

The New York-based Wenner, which also publishes Rolling Stone and Men's Journal, expects to tap into demand from time-sensitive advertisers such as TV and cable programmers that want to promote their shows. "We're a monthly and not able to carry as much tune-in advertising or studio advertising because we don't necessarily flow with release or on-air dates," says Us publisher Larry Burstein.

The move to a weekly frequency will also help capture technical marketers--advertisers that are broadcast-oriented and prefer the precision and measurability of a weekly, says general manager Kent Brownridge. Wenner executives expect ad pages to grow from 500 pages this year to 1,000 in its first year as a weekly, with entertainment as the top ad category, followed by fragrances and beauty, automobiles, fashion and accessories, and tobacco. Us saw ad pages fall 2.8 percent for the first eight months of this year, compared to the same period in 1998. Ad rates for the weekly will initially stay the same as the monthly--$53,750 per color page.

Wenner's chairman, Jann S. Wenner, had shopped the weekly concept to undisclosed investors, but in the end decided to keep it entirely in the company. The privately held company says Us is profitable today, and Brownridge expects the weekly to turn a profit in two years.

Wenner also wants to boost US Weekly's newsstand sales. It is spending between $12 million and $15 million to increase and upgrade its checkout counter racks. US Weekly's cover price will be $2.99. Competitor People Weekly costs $3.99 and Entertainment Weekly is $3.95.

The company is said to be spending $50 million on the switch, and Brownridge says that naysayers are not taking into account that Us has already made investments in the readership, staff and expertise. "We have a whole infrastructure in place, as well as a brand, and we're capitalizing on that," he says.

In preparing for the move, Jann Wenner had to do a little housekeeping: Last month he pulled in Terry McDonell to be editor in chief, a job he takes on in addition to his position as editor in chief of Men's Journal. McDonell comes in over Charlie Leerhsen, who was hired last year from People Weekly, where he was managing editor. According to sources, Leerhsen has encountered some management and staffing problems--at least four employees have resigned or were fired over the past several months.