East versus West - West Coast and East Coast publishing - includes related article

Folio: The Magazine for Magazine Management, May 15, 1994 by Erika Isler

OUR INDUSTRY'S TALE OF TWO CITIES

IS THE ENTREPRENEURIAL ENERGY IN MAGAZINE PUBLISHING SLIDING TOWARD THE LEFT COAST?

Magazine publishing has two power centers: New York City and Los Angeles. That's not to diss Chicago, Denver, Des Moines or Kansas City, but when news breaks in the magazine industry, it must often originates from one of the two coasts.

The differences between West Coast and East Coast publishing are both stark and subtle. New York publishers have longevity, tradition and critical mass on their side; California companies are smaller, faster moving and more entrepreneurial. In spite of a prolonged recession, 20 percent of all magazine launches last year were in California, according to Samir Husni's Guide to New Consumer Magazines.

Perhaps that's a consequence of being out of the mainstream. Observes Robin Wolaner, president and CEO of Time Warner's Sunset Publishing in Menlo Park, California, "It's better to be out of the fishbowl. You get away from the 'me-too-ism' and think more about the readers and the advertisers."

John Skipper, vice president of Burbank-based Disney Magazine Publishing (Family Fun, Discover and Disney Adventures), concurs: "I haven't really missed the slightly incestuous magazine circuit in New York." While it's easy to feel out of the loop when outside of New York, he says, it's also easier to concentrate on the work at hand.

That's no illusion, according to Dr. Gene Bleecker, an industrial psychologist based in Fallbrook, California. As executives move further from the East Coast, aggressive business mannerisms, in Bleecker's experience, mellow: "There's a lot more experimenting with everything out here."

But haven't riots, fires, floods and earthquakes--combined with the ongoing statewide recession--dimmed the glow of the Golden State? Not really. "There's still a very significant draw to California," insists Dr. Burt Winer, a Tustin, California, psychotherapist with a background in small business. "That draw is from the traditional attractions like the weather, and also from the perception that the lifestyle is easygoing and free-flowing here."

Still, Skipper, an East Coast native and a Wenner Media veteran, acknowledges there are certain difficulties. "Being in California means there are a lot of airplane trips, and it forces you to spend lots of time in New York. When you're based in New York, you're close to everything. It feels easier to be there."

The two faces of Time Warner

Perhaps no company better epitomizes the East-West dichotomy than Los Angeles-based Time Inc. Ventures and its parent, the New York City-headquartered Time Warner. TIV began as Time Publishing Ventures in 1990, under the leadership of Christopher Meigher. In 1991, the group moved to L.A. and Robert Miller was named president. In August 1992, TPV became TIV to reflect an agenda beyond paper publishing.

In three brief years, TIV has become an aggressive, growth-oriented West Coast player. Just last March, it launched Mouth2Mouth. Insiders and observers agree that the West Coast operation is the one to watch. "Within Time Inc.," says one New York Time Inc.'er, "the TIV magazines are quickly becoming the white-hot locus. They appear to be the only part of the magazine company that is really growing." TIV staffers are known for "thinking outside the box," and being more independent. "They are not typical Time Inc.'ers. ... They're risk-takers," adds a New York staffer.

Falling under Miller's charge are Vibe, Martha Stewart Living, Mouth2Mouth, Parenting, Health, Hippocrates, Southern Progress Corporation (Southern Living, Cooking Light) and the Sunset Corp. In contrast, the New York titles--Time, Life, Sports Illustrated, Money, Fortune, People and SI for Kids--under Time Inc. chairman Reg Brack have larger circulations and greater visibility, but generally have reached maturity. "Building a franchise is harder to do with the main-stream titles," says one Time Inc. executive. "They've been leveraged to death."

Part of TIV's singularity stems from its location outside Manhattan and, especially, outside the Time & Life Building, where it remains a bit of mystery even to its siblings. ("Most people at Time Inc. don't really know how it works," says one bicoastal Time Warner exec.) Executives on both coasts say that although it might be more convenient to be in New York, living outside the media metropolis has its advantages. "If you're involved with a start-up

outside of New York and something goes wrong--which always happens--there are fewer rumors," observes John Klingel, TIV's San Francisco-based vice president of magazine development.

TIV's Bob Miller points out that the cost of doing business in California is lower. There are, for example, a lot more options for office space. The talent pool, however, is a different story. "New York offers an almost infinite labor supply, particularly on the editorial and journalistic side of the business," notes Miller.

Conde Nast's Left Coast division

With the acquisition of L.A.-based Knapp Communications by Conde Nast last year, the top brass faced a particularly daunting challenge: Whether to bring its new titles, Architectural Digest and Bon Appetit, "home." Insiders say that completely relocating the titles to New York was never a consideration, in part because of office space limits there. In the end, some staffers were shuttled between, some were let go, and CN consolidated its Southern California operation into the old Knapp offices in L.A.