Advanstar forms new-media unit - Advanstar Communications Inc - Brief Article

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May 15, 1994

As healthcare reform moves to the political front burner, Advanstar Communications hopes to cash in with an array of multimedia products geared to both medical professionals and consumers. Through its recently formed Advanstar Millenium new-media unit, the Cleveland-based company will release CD-Derma (for dermatologists) in May, CD-Gastro (for gastrointestinal specialists) in June and another for rheumatologists in August.

The discs--in effect, multimedia textbooks equivalent to about 4,000 pages--will carry original editorial material, graphics and video. They will be sold directly to doctors for about $150 and in bulk to advertisers who can then distribute them to their target audiences. New editions will be produced every 12 to 18 months, says Bernard Rogers, president of Advanstar Millenium and the 14-title Health Care Communications Group. Advanstar, publisher of 57 trade titles and manager of 80 expos, has backed up its new media venture with a seven-figure commitment. Healthcare related products are expected to represent 15 percent of the total CD-ROM software market, according to the Digital Information Group, a Stamford, Connecticut-based research outfit. In an effort to tap this burgeoning market, Millenium is planning to release 16 products in the next two years, including one aimed at the consumer health market. The group is also exploring a quarterly CD-ROM magazine based on Modern Medicine. The new title would incorporate articles that appear in the 20 international editions of the magazine. Plans for an Advanstar online service are also being considered.