Tennis anyone? NYT titles up for sale

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, April 15, 1997 by Ann Marie Kerwin

The New York Times Co., after years of rumors, has put six of its magazines on the block, including Tennis, Snow Country, Cruising World and Sailing World The Golf Company, which includes GolfDigest and GolfWorld, will remain part of the Trumbull, Connecticut-based operation headed by magazine group president James Fitzgerald.

"We're mildly interested," says Petersen Publishing Co. president Neal Vitale. "One major concern we have is most of Petersen's titles have a strong endemic advertising base, and [the NYT] titles tend to be supported by nonendemic, for the most part."

Also included in the NYT sale are the trade titles Snow Country Business and Tennis Buyer's Guide. Other publishers expected to take a look include Times Mirror Magazines, Hearst Magazines and K-III Magazines. Another name being mentioned is that of former Time Inc. Ventures president Robert Miller, who may want to use the titles as a platform to build a larger group for his new company, Goldrush Media. The Times Co. has not yet decided whether the titles will be sold as a group, says spokeswoman Nancy Nielsen. The Jordan Edmiston Group in New York City will handle the transaction.

RELATED ARTICLE: CBM closes one title, acquires another

* Stamford, Connecticut-based Cowles Business Media, publisher of Folio, has suspended publication of New York City-based Inside Media, a controlled-circulation biweekly, and sold the assets to ASM Communications, publisher of Adweek. "Although Inside Media was profitable, it did not meet the company's growth and earnings objectives," says CBM president Dan McCarthy. Inside Media was started in 1989 and had a circulation of 20,000 and a staff of 13. In another move, 13 other CBM staffers were also let go. The company, whose other titles include Direct and Catalog Age, recently acquired Circulation Management and the quarterly Magazine Retailer from owner and publisher Bhanu Dhamija.