Virtual Press RoomIndustry Scoop
Keep informed and on top of the latest multimedia news stories by checking out the industry scoop page. Articles will be updated weekly.
The secret to magazine sales? (February 8, 2010)t's a truism that in a tough economy consumers favour the light and fluffy. Certainly this could explain the solid performance of Hello! Canada which, according to statistics released yesterday, enjoyed a 15.1 per cent increase in circulation in the final six months of 2009 relative to its performance in that same July-December period in 2008. Read the full story
ABC Fas-Fax reports newsstand sales are rebounding (February 8, 2010)The ABC Fas-Fax report numbers released earlier today show that single-copy newsstand sales are down 4.34%, an improvement from the dramatic 23% decrease reported for the same period last year. Read the full story
Magazines Slow Their Losses at Newsstand (February 8, 2010)Consumers continued to cut back on purchases at magazine newsstands in the second half of last year, but publishers managed to slow the rate of attrition, according to the semi-annual circulation report released today by the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Read the full story
Zinio Preps Ad Net (February 7, 2010)As the attention publishers are paying to the app versions of their core titles grows, Zinio, the digital publishing firm, on Feb. 22 plans to launch an ad network with an unnamed advertiser that will allow for multi-title sales across its publisher clients’ iPhone apps and desktop versions. Read the full story
Maxim Magazine Goes on Sale in the App Store (February 3, 2010)Maxim has become the latest big magazine to start selling digital versions of regular print issues tailored for display on the iPhone and iPod Touch, joining Conde Nast's GQ and Hearst Magazines' Esquire in the App Store. Read the full story
Q&A: Mark Contreras, Chairman, Newspaper Association of America (February 3, 2010)In April Mark Contreras takes over as chairman of the Newspaper Association of America, where he'll become the leading figure of a media sector that's been battered and transformed like no other. Contreras has seen the carnage close up as senior vice president for newspapers at E.W. Scripps Co., where he oversees 28 daily and community newspapers. He spoke to Forbes last week. Read the full story
Paid Subs Are Up for Women’s Titles (February 3, 2010)According to estimated figures provided by publishers to ABC’s Rapid Report, the women’s category saw meaningful improvement in paid subscriptions during the second-half of 2009, while total paid and verified circ remained relatively stable. Newsstand sales, however, continued to decline, but at a slower pace when compared to previous periods. Read the full story
Mags See Newsstand Woes Waning (February 2, 2010)Finally, some good news for magazines—sort of. After a punishing first half on the newsstand, many of the industry’s biggest newsstand sellers saw sales declines ease in the second half of the year. Read the full story
Some News Outlets Ready to Try Charging Online Readers (February 2, 2010)Extracting payment from online readers has been called everything from the next great folly of print journalism to its salvation, but to get a glimpse of how it really looks, head to Lancaster, Pa. Specifically, head to the offices of The Intelligencer Journal-Lancaster New Era, one of the first handful of news outlets to acknowledge in interviews that it intends, in the next few months, to start using a software system developed by the entrepreneurs Steven Brill, L. Gordon Crovitz and their partners, which they are calling Press+. Read the full story
Magazines' Newsstand Recession May Be Lightening Up (February 2, 2010)Magazines' newsstand recession certainly isn't over -- but it seems to be lightening up. Many magazine publishers now reporting circulation figures for the second half of last year are again posting declines, but in most cases those declines aren't nearly as steep as the plunges that came before. Read the full story
Google Exec: We're Here to Help Newspapers (January 28, 2010)Devices like Apple's iPad may help newspapers and traditional publishers, but only significant evolution will save them, Google's chief economist, Hal Varian, said in a talk with journalism students at UC Berkeley. Read the full story
Media Execs Weigh in on iPad Launch: Where's the Print? (January 27, 2010)Traditional media—particularly the embattled print industry—was conspicuously absent from Apple’s elaborate rollout of the iPad, its highly anticipated tablet computing device. But publishers, advertisers and analysts remain optimistic that magazines and newspapers will ultimately receive a readership and business boost from the new device, which was unveiled during a press event in San Francisco Calif. on Wednesday (Jan. 27). Read the full story
Condé Nast and Time Inc. Cheer iPad; Others Have Doubts (January 27, 2010)No tablet-ready magazines were unveiled at Apple’s event on Wednesday, but Sarah Chubb, president of Condé Nast Digital, said that did not concern her. Read the full story
Apple IPad Charges at Kindle and Netbooks (January 27, 2010)Yes, it's an iPad. Apple CEO Steve Jobs finally introduced the company's long-anticipated tablet computer today, and gave it a name no one seemed to like, at least initially. Read the full story
Three Hard Questions for Print Publishers Drooling Over the Apple Tablet (January 27, 2010)Steve Jobs has reportedly called the Apple tablet "the most important thing I've ever done," but how important will it really be for print publishers seeking a new digital business? Read the full story
Apple Reveals the iPad Tablet (January 27, 2010)Steven P. Jobs has finally introduced Apple’s new tablet computer, called the iPad. The question now is whether regular consumers will buy the iPhone-like device, which is priced at $499 at the entry level and can cost as much as $829. Read the full story
Newspaper Publishers Have Faith in Apple Tablet (January 26, 2010)With Apple planning to announce its new tablet on Wednesday, the Audit Bureau of Circulations revealed findings today from a recent survey of newspaper publishers that shows they are putting a lot of faith in the popularity of such e-readers, but not abandoning print just yet. Read the full story
With Apple Tablet, Print Media Hope for a Payday (January 25, 2010)With the widely anticipated introduction of a tablet computer at an event here on Wednesday morning, Apple may be giving the media industry a kind of time machine — a chance to undo mistakes of the past. People who have seen the tablet say Apple will market it not just as a way to read news, books and other material, but also a way for companies to charge for all that content. Read the full story
Apple's rumored tablet may write next chapter in publishing (January 25, 2010)Not since biblical times has the arrival of a tablet been greeted with such anticipation. Apple Inc. won't reveal the details of what is widely expected to be a new tablet computer until Wednesday, but it has already shaken up the publishing world, whose executives wonder whether the device will revolutionize the distribution of newspapers, magazines and books in the same way that the iPod transformed the music industry. Read the full story
Can the Web save newspapers? (January 23, 2010)Ask the most pessimistic observers about the fortunes of the newspaper industry and they'll tell you the "dead-tree" medium is walking the plank, prodded by the same digital daggers that pushed compact discs, camera film and other physical media over the edge. But the outlook isn't so bleak, say some of the high-tech pirates wielding the daggers. Read the full story
While Newspaper Ad Revenue Plunged, FSI Coupons Hit Record Levels in 2009 (January 22, 2010)Even as newspaper advertising revenue was falling off the cliff in 2009, retailers were ramping up their use of free standing insert (FSI) coupons by eye-popping rates, according to the best-known FSI measuring organization, Marx Promotion Intelligence. In a year when consumers looked for every shopping advantage and traded down in brands and stores, discount retailers greatly increased their buy of FSI pages with coupons. Read the full story
A Q+A with Meredith National Media Group president Jack Griffin (January 21, 2010)With the first half of fiscal 2010 under his belt, National Media Group president Jack Griffin spoke to FOLIO: about how the group has managed to see growth in print, how it’s dealing with the plateau in Internet display advertising and how the group is boosting profits and efficiencies beyond job cuts. Read the full story
Mags make a 2010 rebound (January 17, 2010)Magazines aren't getting kicked around anymore—at least not as much. Nearly two years after the bottom fell out of magazine advertising, publishers are seeing signs of stability in the first quarter and are becoming cautiously optimistic about 2010. Read the full story
ABC's Mobile Survey Goes, Well, Mobile (January 11, 2010)In a fitting move, the Audit Bureau of Circulations is making its new mobile marketing survey available at the iTunes store for download to iPhone or iPod Touch devices. Read the full story
CES2010: Hearst's Skiff Reader makes play for newspapers, magazines (January 4, 2010)The E-reader market is about to get big, literally. Hearst Corp's subsidiary Skiff took the wraps off the Skiff Reader, a next generation e-reader that boasts an advanced e-paper screen that measures 11.5 inches. Read the full story
The future of the magazine (December 19, 2009)Robert Downey Jr. is standing on the cover of a magazine, and he is talking to you. At least, he is if you've picked up the December issue of Esquire, thanks to a technology called “augmented reality.” The reader holds the magazine in front of a webcam. An encoded black-and-white square communicates with software, and the actor leaps from the page with a robust holler. Read the full story
72% Of Advertisers See More Digital Spending In 2010 (December 15, 2009)A regional survey of 8,500 senior advertising, marketing and media executives by Round2 Communications found that 72% predict they will increase their spending on digital media in the coming year. Read the full story
Newspapers Beat Out Web in Coupon Market, For Now (December 11, 2009)Coupon use in general has gone up 36 percent in the past 12 months -- aided in large part by the recession and changing attitudes toward spending -- and Sunday circulars still account for 70 percent of all coupons clipped, according to a study. Read the full story
ABC Releases Five Consolidated Media Reports (December 9, 2009)The Audit Bureau of Circulations has released five new Consolidated Media Reports (CMR) that take into account all of a newspapers' circulation across a market, including niche and digital related publications. The reports are a first for The Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram and Gettysburg (Pa.) Times. ABC also released updated versions for the Chicago Tribune and The Kansas City Star. Read the full story
Publishers Make Plans for Devices Yet to Come (December 8, 2009)Five major magazine and newspaper publishers announced plans on Tuesday to build an industry-standard platform to present their work on the Web, smartphones and electronic readers in a richer, more flexible and more lucrative form than is possible today. Read the full story
Marketers Jump on E-Reader Data Bandwagon (December 4, 2009)For now, e-readers are strictly a retail play - for $259 and up, a consumer can purchase a device - along with the content to read on it - from Sony, Amazon and Barnes & Noble. That, however, has not stopped marketers from planning for the day when these devices - which In-Stat says are poised to grow into a $2 billion market by the end of next year - will eventually provide mobile advertising opportunities. Read the full story
Magazine Publishers Team Up for Online Newsstand (November 25, 2009)A consortium of magazine publishers including Time and Condé Nast are plan to jointly build an online newsstand for publications in multiple digital formats, The New York Times’s Brian Stelter reported, citing people with knowledge of the plans. Read the full story
Time Inc.'s Squires Assembles Team of Rivals to Harness Digital Media (November 23, 2009)Some of the magazine industry’s biggest names are on the verge of forming a new company that would allow them to take the digital future into their own hands. Read the full story
ABC Approves New Community Newspaper Service (November 17, 2009)Seeking to accommodate community newspaper publishers squeezed by the recession, the Audit Bureau of Circulations board has given its final approval for a new Community Newspaper Audit service with lower costs and simpler requirements. Read the full story
Mass-Market Magazines Show Improved Ad Sales (November, 8, 2009)For magazines, it was a good year to be mass market. Monthly magazines’ ad-page numbers for 2009 are starting to trickle in, and there are a few bright spots. Despite a dismal ad climate, a handful of magazines have more ad pages in December 2009 than a year ago. Some magazines even ended the year with an overall increase in ad pages. Read the full story