Subject: December 13, 2006 -- Partnership Circ/Low-Priced Mags/Postal Reform

From: "Circulation Management" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:31:24 -0500

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Your Circulation News >> Wednesday, December 13, 2006

IN THIS ISSUE

NEWS
The Value of Paid Partnership Circ
STUDY: Low-Priced Mags Threaten Distribution Channel
FHM Shuts Down in U.S., Dealing Devastating Blow to ‘Lad’ Category
Postal Reform Bill, But No Rate Case (Yet)
ABC Sponsored Sales Guidelines

BRIEFS
1105 Media Acquires Post Newsweek Tech
Primedia to Sell Outdoor Group
NYTimes.com Debuts News-Sharing Tool
STUDY: Online World as Important as Real World?
Rodale to Integrate Online, Print Staffs
Web Traffic Numbers Complicated By Pop-Ups
STUDY: Newspaper Sites Attract Avid Online Buyers

MEETINGS & EVENTS

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NEWS

The Value of Paid Partnership Circulation

By Andrew Degenholtz

Partnership marketing is an increasingly common and valuable circulation practice that is fast becoming a trusted part of the circulator’s subscription source mix. The partnership marketing circulation classification, created five years ago by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, allows a magazine subscription to be sold in combination with a product or service.

During this time, publishers and agents have developed many programs to take advantage of these qualified and high affinity subscribers. Over the years, partnership marketing has emerged as an effective tool that uniquely benefits publishers, retailers, consumers and advertisers.

With the elimination of partnership non-deductible rule F2.6, effective July 2007, the ability for a publisher to bundle its publication with a product or service in a retail environment falls primarily under the classification of partnership deductible...

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STUDY: Low-Priced Mags Threaten Distribution Channel

By Chandra Johnson-Greene

According to “The Impact of Low Price Magazines,” a study conducted by Harrington Associates, the success of low cover-price titles is the threatening the financial well being of the magazine distribution channel.

The study argues that magazines priced under $2 cannot be profitable for a mass market magazine wholesaler under the current terms of sale offer by publishers and, in fact, the price point at which no magazine can be profitable for wholesalers is actually as high as $2.49, and may even be higher.

The study traces in detail the resurgence of lower cover priced magazines fueled by the newsstand growth of the celebrity weekly category. A significant change took place when Bauer Publishing introduced In Touch as a weekly with a price of $1.99, which was an immediate success, selling over 1.1 million units per week by the first half of 2006...

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FHM Shuts Down in U.S., Dealing Devastating Blow to ‘Lad’ Category

By Matt Kinsman and Bill Mickey, Folio:

The high-profile “lad” magazine FHM is shutting down in the U.S. because of a sagging advertising market, parent company EMAP said today. The U.S. Web site will remain live and other international editions of FHM will continue publishing.

The move is a huge blow to this category of men’s magazines, brought to the U.S. in 1997 by Felix Dennis with the launch of Maxim. The bawdy, “beer-and-babes” formula belied the old notion that young men don’t read magazines in large numbers...

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Postal Reform Bill, But No Rate Case (Yet)

It was announced this Monday that first the House and then the Senate passed a “sweeping reform bill.” The primary changes in this bill are that 1) future postal rate increases will be capped and linked to the consumer price index; 2) the USPS will no longer be required to pay pension costs for postal employees who previously served in the military; and 3) the USPS will not be required to make postal pension payments into an escrow fund, which will save it $78 billion over the next 60 years.

However at this point no one is talking about the Postal Rate Case, which has yet to be decided.

ABC Sponsored Sales Guidelines

Effective the first of next year, ABC sponsored sales rules will require that recipients of sponsored copies be informed of who has purchased the copies on their behalf. This applies to new programs. For programs already in place prior to January, the rule will be applied when the programs renew.

There has also been a transition period announced—during the first half of 2007, “reasonable action should be taken to provide recipient notification from time to time.” 100 percent compliance will be required by July 1, 2007.

The rules apply to the four primary categories of sponsored sales—individually addressed, public place, on-site distribution and event or similar distribution. Specific requirements for each of the categories can be found on the ABC Web site at http://www.accessabc.com/consumer/c_sponsoredguidelines.htm.

NEWS

1105 Media Acquires Post Newsweek Tech

1105 Media Inc. announced last week that it has acquired The Washington Post Company’s government publishing and events group, Post Newsweek Tech Media, which includes Government Computer News (GCN), Washington Technology, Government Leader, Defense Systems, online products and the FOSE trade show. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

With 1105’s Federal Computer Week and its associated online products and conferences added to the list, the new family will provide the largest combined reach in the government marketplace, with more that 240,000 government subscribers.

The combined group will be renamed the 1105 Government Information Group, and will be led by Anne Armstrong, currently publisher of 1105’s FCW Media Group.

Primedia to Sell Outdoor Group

Primedia announced last week that it has agreed to sell its hunting, fishing and shooting titles to InterMedia Outdoor Inc., an entity owned by New York-based private equity firm InterMedia Partners, for $170 million cash.

The sale covers 17 publications, including newsstand giant Guns & Ammo, as well as all events, Web sites, TV and radio programming and branded products associated with the magazines. The sale is expected to close by the end of the first quarter of 2007.

Earlier this year Primedia sold its Crafts Group to Enthusiast Media LLC, in an all-cash transaction of $132 million.

NYTimes.com Debuts News-Sharing Tool

The New York Times announced this week that it has added a news-sharing tool to its Web site allowing readers to develop conversations and post comments about specific stories on Digg, Facebook and Newsvine.

Readers will be able to add headlines and a small portion of text to the social media sites by clicking on the logos of Digg, Facebook and Newsvine. The logos began appearing on Dec. 11 in the same box as the print and email tools, although they are hidden until the user clicks the “Share” link.

The sharing feature will not be used on TimesSelect stories, nor will it be available on staff blogs or wire stories.

STUDY: Online World as Important as Real World?

According to a study conducted by the USC-Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future, 43 percent of Internet users who are members of online communities say that they “feel as strongly” about their virtual community as they do about their real-world communities.

“More than a decade after the portals of the Worldwide Web opened to the public, we are now witnessing the true emergence of the Internet as the powerful personal and social phenomenon we knew it would become,” said Jeffrey I. Cole, director of the USC Annenberg School Center for the Digital Future.

The 2007 Digital Future Project found that Internet use is growing and evolving as an instrument for personal engagement—through blogs, personal Web sites and online communities.

Rodale to Integrate Online, Print Staffs

Rodale, the parent company of Prevention and Men’s Health, has announced that it will make a series of changes to integrate its print and online functions.

The print and online sales teams in the editorial, marketing and sales groups will now be combined into one unified sales force, which will significantly expand Rodale’s personnel selling online services.

The unified sales force will be led by Executive VP and Group Publisher MaryAnn Bekkedahl, who will report to Interactive President and Chief Marketing Officer Bill Ostroff...

[MORE]

Web Traffic Numbers Complicated By Pop-Ups

Nielsen/Net Ratings, the Internet traffic measurement company, has been sharply cutting previously reported statistics for various Web sites due to an unusual method being used to increase traffic—pop-ups that contain news content.

According to The New York Times, the technique of using pop-ups that feature articles is becoming more popular, making unwarranted pop-ups hard to distinguish from intentional site visits...

[MORE]

Study: Newspaper Sites Attract Avid Online Buyers

According to new analysis by Scarborough Research, newspaper Web site audiences are more likely than average Internet users to be avid online shoppers, spending more that the average Internet user on online purchases.

Scarborough examined newspaper Web site readers of major papers in five local markets: Sacramento, Houston, Providence, Orlando and Kansas City. In all of these markets, newspaper Web site readers are more likely than other Internet users to be spending upwards of $1,000 online annually...

[MORE]

MEETINGS & EVENTS

Webinars
Dec. 14, Direct's Enticing Gifts for the Holidays: 25 New Direct Marketing Ideas That Will Make Your New Year Sizzle, 2 p.m., EST, Register here

December
Dec. 13, DMA "Roast and Toast" Holiday Luncheon, Yale Club of New York, New York, NY. http://www.the-dma.org/councilevents/insertdecluncheon

Dec. 13, FMA Holiday Party, The Princeton Club, New York, NY  http://www.fmanational.org

Dec. 13, ABM's Secrets of Successful Pay Per Click Marketers, Doubletree Dallas Galleria, TX. http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com

January
Jan. 10, ABM Thought Leadership Breakfast Series - The Identity Game: Custome Media Builds Brands, New York, NY http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com

Jan. 17, FMA Morning Seminar: Fulfillment Solutions for Savvy/Complex Marketing Strategies; Luncheon Panel: Automatic Renewals; The Princeton Club, New York, NY http://www.fmanational.org

Jan. 17, AMA Training Series: Conjoint Analysis and Discreet Choice Modeling: Introduction,  Comparison and Evolution, Grand Hyatt Tampa Bay, Tampa, FL http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

Jan. 18, ABM's Tri-State Taxation Conference, FAE Conference Center, New York, NY. http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com

Jan. 28-30, ABM's International LCT Show 2007, Venetian Resort & Hotel, Las Vegas, NV http://www.americanbusinessmedia.com

Jan. 29, AMA Training Series: Managing Customer Loyalty, San Francisco, CA http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

February
Feb. 5, AMA Training Series: Conjoint Analysis and Discreet Choice Modeling: Introduction,  Comparison and Evolution, Hyatt Regency Austin on Town Lake, Austin, TX http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

Feb 8., AMA Training Series: Marketing ROI Techniques: Improving Campaign Measurements, Analytics and Profitability, Hotel Valencia Riverwalk, San Antonio, TX http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

Feb. 12, AMA Training Series: Managing Customer Loyalty, Las Vegas, NV http://archives.subscribermail.com/msg/AMAUDF9CF435.htm

[MORE]

Contact us
Red 7 Media, Inc.
10 Norden Place
Norwalk, CT 06855
Tel. (203) 854-6730
Fax: (203) 854-6735

Editors:
Kristina Joukhadar, Managing Editor
Chandra Johnson-Greene, Associate Editor

Advertising Inquiries:
Tony Silber, Publisher
Gina Gavish, Advertising Director
John Ellertson, Regional Sales Manager
Karen Putrimas, Sr. Sales Manager, Directory Group

Exhibit & Sponsorship Inquiries:
Kelly Koenig, Dir. Exhibit & Sponsorship

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