Cowles' Western roundup - Cowles Magazines' Western-theme special-interest periodicals - Brief Article

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, July 1, 1994

Cowles Magazines continues to corral titles into its Western stable. Riding the success of Western Styles (a bimonthly whose circulation has grown from 110,000 to 170,000 since its launch in the spring of 1993), Cowles introduced Rocky Mountain Magazine in May. Initial newsstand distribution was 100,000 across the United States and parts of Canada. Tagged "The international guide to outdoor adventure," the new title targets "mountain bikers, hikers, campers and the 100 million people who visit the Rockies each year," says publishing director Harry Myers.

Cowles Magazines (sister company to Cowles Business Media, publisher of Folio:) operates a number of Western enthusiast titles out of offices in Denver (the company is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut): Horse & Rider, with a paid circulation of 170,000, focuses on Western-style riding; Wild West, with a paid circulation of 158,000, reports on the American frontier; and Western English World, a trade title with a controlled circulation of 10,000, covers riding apparel for retailers.

In all, Cowles publishes 23 special-interest titles. The two most recent magazines, however, mark a turn for the company. "The physical package on Western Styles and Rocky Mountain is significantly enhanced from what we usually do," says Myers, noting the stronger newsstand appeal of the two books.

"There's been a plethora of Western-oriented magazines that I like to think follow in our footsteps," says Steve Slack, publishing director of St. Charles, Illinois-based Sampler Magazine Group, which includes Country Sampler's West, a 105,000-circulation bimonthly for home decorating. "I say the more the merrier. It validates the notion of Western lifestyles being a magazine topic that's alive and well."

Larry Burke, publisher of 18-year-old Outside, agrees. "I'd classify Rocky Mountain with Adventure West, Escape, and other topical segmentations of Outside's overall broader focus." Even with more niche books on the scene, Outside has seen circulation grow 8 to 12 percent annually over the past decade, to 450,000.

For now, Cowles is keeping a careful rein on the growth pace of its newest entries. "If we were to grow to 400,000 or 500,000 circulation, we'd price out a lot of our advertisers," Myers says of Western Styles, which is aiming instead for a more natural level of 250,000 to 300,000. As for Rocky Mountain, whose premier issue carried 43 pages of advertising, that level is still undetermined. The title is set to appear again at the end of August and to go bimonthly with a December/January issue.