Out of print - but not business

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May 1, 1995 by Steve Wilson

Online technology, an ancillary business opportunity for many magazines, has become a means of survival for others. In the past few months, at least three publications - the mass-market Omni and the lesser-known Shade and Adcom - have opted to check their troubled print versions at the door of the online universe in an attempt to reinvent themselves electronically and financially.

General Media International announced in March that the 700,000-circulation Omni would transform from a subscription-based monthly into a newsstand-only quarterly, acting as a supplement to its America Online site and an upcoming World Wide Web locale on the Internet.

Keith Ferrell, editor of the 14-year-old science title, says going further online is a logical step for a magazine that's about the future. "We decided somebody was going to have to take the plunge," he says. "And since we're Omni, we thought we'd do it."

Of course, as with any major transition, the Omni move isn't quite as simple as a press release might make it sound. Increased postal rates and paper costs probably played a part in the General Media decision, too, along with a shrinking subscriber base and declining ad pages. (Although the New York City-based magazine posted a 15 percent increase in ad pages last year, to 672 from 586, according to figures compiled by Publishers information Bureau, that was still down from Omni's 1992 total of 724 ad pages.)

Robert Pondiscio, public affairs director for Time, which has a major online presence, says he thinks Omni's switch is premature. "I don't think the level of usage right now can support an online product alone," he argues. "And as an ad medium, there's a lot to be resolved. I don't think the publishing industry is ready for this.

Magazine watchers can debate the wisdom of the Omni move until the cyber cows come home. But whether or not the industry is ready for it, the online-only format is giving some publishers a much-needed second chance.

Adcom, an 8,000-circulation monthly trade journal covering the advertising and marketing fields, shed its print version earlier this year to become AdcomNet, a private computer network. The format change has allowed the Boston-based title to expand beyond its East Coast audience as a national information provider capable of competing with the weekly trades - while offering features similar to those of other online services. "Doing this online is a hell of a lot cheaper," says publisher Carl Shedd, noting that the title will save as much as $150,000 by eliminating production, printing and postage costs.

Keeping up appearances

The cash-strapped, African-American culture magazine Shade was forced to suspend publication last December just 10 months after its debut. But the 13,000-circulation title didn't pull the plug altogether. Since its launch, Shade had also maintained a presence on New York Online, offering culture and nightlife listings. So, while the title's creators try to round up the necessary financing to bring back the printed version as a controlled-circulation vehicle sometime early next year, Shade lives on in cyberspace.

"This is not a substitution," says Shade president and publisher Sheryl Huggins. "We're developing a whole package of print and electronic media. Online isn't cash-intensive, so we can keep going - because right now, it's our presence that's important."

Even AdcomNet editor Mike Paulresinsky admits he would have liked to keep his magazine around in its traditional format for at least another year to offer the kind of package Huggins has in mind. After all, he notes, when you leave your printed pages behind, "you lose your marketing vehicle."