Magazine Marketplace: A highly selective industry chronicle

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, June 1, 2003

It turns out that city and regional books have been able to hold on to ad dollars - or recover them comparatively rapidly - all across the country. David Lipson, president of Metrocorp and publisher of Philadelphia magazine, says local advertising downturns are easier to react to: "You can respond quickly by meeting with local merchants. You can turn that around pretty quickly [if you] are adept at developing promotions, events, and special sections."

OUR TAKE: Seija Goldstein, a magazine consultant who does an annual report on city and regional titles, says profit margins for the magazines that she tracks doubled from 2001 to 2002, nearing the highs of 2000. That's what we call impressive. Look for city and regionals to really blossom once national advertising returns. - STP

'WORTH' SUSPENDS PUBLICATION

Just a month after it made a round of drastic cutbacks in order to survive, Worth Media suspended publication of Worth magazine until negotiations with a buyer are completed. In March, the company announced a plan to cut back the title's frequency from 10 to eight issues annually, and 40 staffers were laid off (some were rehired several days later). The publication was expected to come out with an April/May issue and a summer issue, but those plans were canceled.

Company president Alison Parks had said a deal would be reached in May, and that publication would resume with a fall issue in either September or October. No deal had been completed by press time, however. She reports that a prospective buyer was initially going to invest only in the magazine but had decided to acquire the title outright. "These things take time, so we have to go on hiatus. We have to concentrate our energies on completing the acquisition so we can get back to publishing," she says. W. Randall Jones, majority owner, founder, and CEO of Worth Media, will continue to have a major role. "The sale is contingent upon his remaining involved," adds Parks. "We believe many of us will have a role at the new company, but that is to be worked out."

OUR TAKE: Suspending publication is the new thing in publishing, with Worth, Gear, and eDesign all halting publication - but not folding - over the past few months. While some of these suspensions seem to be postponing the inevitable, our money is on Worth to make a comeback. - STP

AND ALSO...

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Wal-Mart banned the sale of lad mags, such as Maxim, Stuff, and FHM. In a release, Dennis Publishing said, "We are dismayed at the double standard Wal-Mart has set with magazines. We hope Wal-Mart will realize that the front covers and contents of Maxim and Stuff are no more provocative than those of other men's magazines...and usually less provocative than the covers and contents of many women's magazines."

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Tina Brown's new television show, "Topic [A]," debuted on CNBC at the end of April - to only 74,000 viewers. Maybe it's time to come up with a magazine launch idea.

Q&A QUICKIE

Cullen Murphy MANAGING EDITOR, THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY

You recently won two Ellies - one for general excellence - and ASME hailed The Atlantic for having been "redesigned, rethought, and reenergized." How would you characterize the new Atlantic ?