Newsstand Circ Drops

Magazine sales to...

Web competition - apparent now for both readers and advertising - and a continued growth in the cacaphony of magazine titles took their toll in 2006, with the first half of the year showing almost 50 million fewer magazines sold from newsstands. Time showed an enormous shortfall of 24 percent. Time said it would shift publication days to Friday in hopes of mitigating the decline by appealing to weekend readers, according to Reuters.

The decline of 48.7 million magazine copies - or about 4 percent of the total newsstand sales - comes at a time of increased circulation scrutiny by advertisers and auditors. The past two years have seen several high-profile print scandals and circulation hubbubs involving exaggerated claims of paid circulation.

Billboard Lays Off Senior Editors

Billboard laid off nine staffers yesterday as part of a larger overhaul begun when the magazine’s parent company, VNU, purchased radio trade pub Radio & Records and shut down Billboard Radio Monitor.

Ziff Davis Puts Media Assets on the Block

Ziff Davis Holdings has decided to sell Ziff Davis Media, publishers of PC Magazine and Baseline, as well as a variety of online, tech-focused products.

Conde Nast Selling Three Trade Titles

Conde Nast is selling three trade titles - Supermarket News, Home Furnishings News and InFurniture - that don’t fit with its mission, writes New York Business. The titles were acquired when S.I. Newshouse bought Fairchild Publications Inc. in 1999 and, while they play a “leading role in the markets they serve, they reflect areas of business to business publishing that are not key to our core mission,” group president Mitch Fox is reported as writing in an internal memo.

Prism Luanches ‘Digital Content Producer,’ Shutters ‘Video Systems’

Prism Business Media will shutter the print version of Video Systems, the company has announced, and is launching a new magazine, Digital Content Producer, writes BtoB. The website for the new magazine, Digitalcontentproducer.com, is already up, and the first print issue will appear in May.

NAA Breaks $50MM Ad Campaign to Reach Advertisers

The Newspaper Association of America has launched a $50 million ad campaign - which broke today, with retro-looking ads running in 700 daily newspapers and in trade magazines, as well as online versions (which are somewhat intrusive and distracting) - with the tagline, “Newspaper advertising, a destination, not a distraction,” reports the New York Daily News (via MarketingVox). Confronted with declining circulation and market share, the NAA’s effort intends promote newspapers to advertisers.

Conde Nast May Subdivide Fairchild Publications

One year after Conde Nast has expanded its reach to include the magazines formerly under the 114-year-old Fairchild Publication brand, Conde Nast executives are considering turning Fairchild into a pair of subdivisions - one for retail trades and one for fashion trades, writes the New York Observer.

Print Media Campaigns to Raise Ad Sales

With marketers using more Internet and email advertising, newspaper and magazine industry trade organizations plan to increase ad sales by introducing a new campaign to persuade marketers and agencies to think better of print as an advertising medium, writes The New York Times.

The magazine campaign begins first, on February 27th. As part of their three-year, $40 million campaign by the magazine industry, the Magazine Publishers of America have Mullen in Wenham, Massachusetts creating a series of ads that will appear in thousands of free copies of more than 30 magazines that agencies receive.

‘Marie Claire’ Launches First Branding Campaign

Marie Claire is introducing its first branding campaign next week, tagged “More than a pretty face,” designed to attract young, female, serious-minded readers, the New York Times reports. The ads were created by Berlin Cameron United in New York, and will appear in Advertising Age, Women’s Wear Daily, and other trade pubs. The magazine is taking on a more serious tone, reaching out to women in their mid-20s who care more about world events than 20-somethings of the past.

MPA Launching Print Awareness Campaign to Media Buyers

A new ad campaign from the Magazine Publishers of America, launching in mid-Feb., will focus on how consumers use and take action from print ads more than from any other media, Mediaweek writes. The ads, targeting media buyers and advertisers, are part of a three-year, $40 million campaign designed to promote the value of print advertising.