The Business of Magazines

[Pedro]

Tina Brown's Big Catch...

BIG CATCH: Tina Brown has poached yet another longtime staffer from The Washington Post. Robin Givhan, the 2006 Pulitzer Prize criticism winner and fashion editor for the newspaper, is joining Newsweek and The Daily Beast as special correspondent, style and culture. "I obviously didn't make the decision to leave quickly or without a lot of soul-searching," Givhan told WWD. "I've been a sniffling, blubbering wreck for the last few days. The Post has been an unbelievable place to work. But I think it was time for me to have a new adventure, and Tina's vision of what Newsweek can be is incredibly enticing and, I think, spot-on."

Brown stated how pleased she was that "Robin Givhan is bringing her stylish pen, reportorial rigueur and keen cultural insight to Newsweek and The Daily Beast. It will be wonderful to work with her." In mid-October it was revealed that Howard Kurtz would leave the Post and his longtime position as media and investigative reporter to become Washington bureau chief for The Daily Beast. Givhan will also be based in DC.


Givhan has worked at the Post for 15 years. In 2009, she began covering Michelle Obama and the White House and her book, "Michelle: Her First Year as First Lady" was published in conjunction with the Post earlier this year.

— Amy Wicks

From WWD.com, December 15, 2010

 

[blueorchid]

French Mixte magazine is back in 2011 !
Posted on December 5, 2010 at 08:00:10 AM by kuklina

I will post a last message full of hopes : MIXTE, the French fashion magazine is back in 2011 !

From fashion-iconography.net

 

[dr4732]

From fashion-iconography.net

I really liked that magazine so i'm happy it"ll be back next year.

 

[MissMagAddict]

RE: Carine Roitfeld Leaves Vogue Paris.

Please post your comments in the RHI thread.

http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f63/carine-roitfeld-leaves-vogue-paris-119171.html

Thank you.

 

[Flashbang]

ESQUIRE’S PICK: British Esquire has appointed Alex Bilmes editor. Bilmes, who was most recently features director of British GQ, succeeds Jeremy Langmead, who left Esquire in September to take up the post of editor in chief at Mr. Porter, Net-a-porter’s men’s wear Web site. NatMag said that earlier this year British Esquire posted a 10.3 percent rise in circulation in the six months to June compared with the same period last year, with a total average net circulation per issue of 58,151.

wwd.com

 

[Flashbang]

(NEW YORK) Kate Reardon has been named editor at Tatler, the Condé Nast fashion and society glossy published in London. She replaces Catherine Ostler, who has edited the title since early 2009, when previous editor Geordie Greig became editor of the London Evening Standard after its purchase by Alexander Lebedev. Reardon's first day at Tatler will be January 10, and she will report to Nicholas Coleridge, managing director of Condé Nast UK. She has served as a contributing editor at Vanity Fair since 1999, and in fact, Reardon served as fashion director at Tatler in the early 1990s before leaving the position to work as a freelance writer. In addition to her work at Vanity Fair, she has been a columnist for the Daily Mail and the London Times, and has also authored Top Tips for Girls: Real Advice from Real Women for Real Life, and Your Mother Was Right: All the Advice You Tried to Forget. According to the most recent ABC numbers, Tatler enjoyed an average monthly circulation of 86,448 for the first half of 2010.

dailyfrontrow

 

[Thefrenchy]

Remember when I said Conde Nast would launch a new magazine in France in 2012? I read that it'll be either Vanity Fair or Wired.

 

[tarsha]

^ Wasn't there something about French version of W?

 

[Thefrenchy]

Mind you the new mag will be launched in 2011, not 2012

Conde Nast France's Xavier Romatet announced that he'll launch, in 2011, the French edition of one of the American group's most famous magazine. It will be either Vanity Fair or Wired

- Translated by me from an article of Le Figaro Economie

 

[tigerrouge]

It felt like Catherine Ostler didn't last long at Tatler, probably an impression formed more from the lack of impact those issues had, than the actual length of time she spent as editor. I wouldn't say it was awful, more that there wasn't much improvement on the previous formula. Yet at one point in its history, the magazine used to produce some awesome covers (and slightly disrespectful yet captivating content) when it was invigorated by Tina Brown. Kate Reardon, get to work.

 

[Faith Akiyama]

Ahem...this should make for some interesting discussion.

Fashion Hacker Identified, Forced to Pay Condé Nast $12,500 in Damages


The FBI raided the Ohio home of a 22-year-old community college student and his parents earlier this year to investigate whether he was tied to the hacking of Condé Nast's computer system. Ross Ulrich confessed to agents on the spot that he had illegally downloaded more than 1,100 files from Condé Nast in late 2009, including unpublished covers of several magazines, such as GQ, Vogue, Lucky, and Teen Vogue. He had subsequently posted the images on the Fashion Spot, where Condé Nast discovered them and demanded their removal. He later posted more images to the online forum Fashionzag, which has since been shut down.



Ulrich told the Smoking Gun that he had gained access to the Condé Nast system by just "poking around" on the Internet, where he found a list of the publishing company's FTP sites and passwords from a simple Google search. Upon realizing that their systems had been breached, Condé found that their servers had been accessed repeatedly over a three-month period from a single IP address that had downloaded hundreds of files, which all matched the images that had been leaked. The company filed a lawsuit for copyright infringement, and the FBI traced the IP address to Ulrich's father.
Ulrich says that he has paid Condé Nast $12,500 to settle their copyright claim, but he doesn't know if he'll be charged formally by federal prosecutors. Meanwhile, he's not so interested in fashion anymore.

Noting that while he once subscribed to Vogue and several other Conde Nast titles (and was a “starred” commenter on The Fashion Spot), Ulrich said his legal troubles have impacted his enthusiasm for such things. “I’m kind of over it,” he said, adding that he hoped federal investigators realize that he has learned his lesson.
​

NYMag

 

[Pedro]

FBI Probe IDs Conde Nast "Hacker"
Fashion-obsessed student, 22, had Ohio home raided by feds

DECEMBER 20--An FBI investigation has identified a fashion-obsessed Ohio man as the person who last year illegally gained access to a Conde Nast computer system and downloaded photos and pages from upcoming magazine issues which he then posted to his blog, The Smoking Gun has learned.

The FBI probe resulted in a raid earlier this year at the Ohio home of Ross Ulrich, a 22-year-old community college student. In a TSG interview, Ulrich said that he confessed to agents as they executed a search warrant at his family’s Columbus residence.

The graphic design student said he also copped to accessing a Warner Bros. server holding images and clips from a variety of movies in production, as well as the computer systems of ad agencies and other magazine publishers.

Ulrich told TSG that he believed federal investigators have not yet made a decision whether to charge him in connection with his downloading of more than 1100 files from the Conde Nast system. He said that a federal prosecutor in New York was “supposed to give me a court date,” but that he has not heard from government investigators in several months. Ulrich is seen above in his Facebook profile picture.

Asked about his motivation for accessing the Conde Nast system, Ulrich claimed that it was simply to obtain images that he could be the first to post online. He added that many bloggers and fan sites compete to publish images from paparazzi agencies and fashion photo shoots. The higher res the better, Ulrich noted. On his MySpace page, Ulrich lists his "heroes" as fashion photographers Bruce Weber, Steven Klein, and Mario Testino. As for favorite books, he wrote, “Does FLAUNT Magazine count?” Another online profile lists "b*tch is trippin'" as a favorite quote of Ulrich, who often uses the online handle "r0b0tj0n3z."

While Ulrich said that a black market exists for the purchase of passwords that allow entry to the web sites of large photo agencies and publishers, he contended that he did not pay to gain access to the Conde Nast and Warner Bros. systems. Instead, Ulrich said, he discovered via a Google search a list of compromised servers that had been posted online. This list of FTP addresses and related passwords allowed Ulrich to spend time “poking around,” he said, “without having to brute force anything.”

Ulrich recalled that during one of his Conde Nast forays he discovered the December 2009 cover of W featuring Demi Moore. He quickly uploaded the unpublished image to The Fashion Spot, a style site where Ulrich was a frequent commenter in the invitation-only forums. The image of the W cover lasted only a few hours before Conde Nast demanded that it be removed, recalled Ulrich, who listed interests of “trends, models, beauty” on his The Fashion Spot profile page.

Ulrich then opted to post his purloined images on FashionZag, which he opened on Google’s Blogger platform.

Conde Nast learned last November that its computers had been compromised when pages from upcoming issues of several publications--including GQ, Vogue, Lucky, and Teen Vogue--began appearing on FashionZag. Those images--which included the entirety of GQ’s December 2009 issue--quickly began appearing on other sites.

An internal Conde Nast investigation revealed that one of its computer systems had been accessed repeatedly over a three-month period by a user who downloaded files from a wide array of the publisher’s titles. A subsequent copyright lawsuit filed by Conde Nast disclosed that the unauthorized access came from a single IP address. Ulrich was later tied to that IP address after subpoenaed records from an Internet service provider revealed that it was connected to an account in his father’s name.

Ulrich told TSG that he agreed to pay Conde Nast $12,500 to settle the firm’s copyright claim.

Court records show that Warner Bros. also filed a federal lawsuit last year after the firm discovered that its servers had been improperly accessed and that copyrighted images had been copied. The IP address from which the film company’s servers were accessed was identical to the one logged by the Conde Nast system. At the time Warner Bros. and Conde Nast filed their respective lawsuits, they were unaware of the intruder’s identity, and named “John Does” as defendants.

Ulrich told TSG that he has not paid Warner Bros. damages, and believes that the film company had decided not to further pursue its civil action.

Noting that while he once subscribed to Vogue and several other Conde Nast titles (and was a “starred” commenter on The Fashion Spot), Ulrich said his legal troubles have impacted his enthusiasm for such things. “I’m kind of over it,” he said, adding that he hoped federal investigators realize that he has learned his lesson.

from thesmokinggun.com, December 20, 2010
original article link

 

[Miss Dalloway]

Oh that is even bigger than when that time one poster posted all the info about future Vogue covers (for months in advance), and then got find out, and fired.

But, and i might be wrong, he was never really a "starred commenter" around here, was he? I dont remember him that much.

 

[nothingless]

^ Don't remember him either. But yikes. That's enough to put me off posting any scoops for the near future! $12,500 and your house raided. Seriously not worth it, just for sharing some scoops. :/

 

[honeycombchild]

^ Agreed.

You do really have to be careful what information is shared if you work within the industry.

 

[tarsha]

Condé Nast Publications Get News of Structural Changes

On a quiet Wednesday before the holiday break, an e-mail was sent to Condé Nast publishers and editors, revealing a few structural changes to the company’s public relations department. P.r. directors and assistants will now report to editors and publishers at respective titles, instead of resident company voice and troubleshooter Maurie Perl, senior vice president corporate communications and chief communications officer. Perl will continue to be the company’s chief spokeswoman and will be available to assist brands when needed. But the change reflects the company’s new aim of allowing each publication to manage its own business.

In late October, chief executive officer Chuck Townsend sent out a memorable memo along the same lines, noting that Condé Nast Digital’s responsibilities would shrink and publishers would get full control of ad sales for their respective titles’ digital properties. Clearly, these changes aren’t along the magnitude of the usual “January surprise” that many within the company speculate about weeks in advance, but perhaps it’s a signal of changes to come.

wwd.com

 

[kokurox]

Keeping Up With The Kardashian Covers

Kim Kardashian and her sisters have become the gift that keeps on giving for celebrity weeklies such as In Touch, Life & Style and Us Weekly. During the past year, they have provided a fairly accurate barometer of the family’s popularity, and the constant coverage isn’t likely to slow down anytime soon. (In January, the E network will begin airing a spin-off show, “Kourtney & Kim Take New York.”)

Kardashian has proven selling power with weeklies, and it appears that she’s also been embraced by the monthly readers. According to Rapid Report (through November), Shape had its best-selling issue of the year in June on newsstands, with Kardashian on the cover. The reality star appeared on Allure’s September cover, which marked its third most popular seller of the year, and most recently, W made a splash by featuring her naked on its November art issue. W’s Kardashian buzz led to its second highest seller of the year (tied with Megan Fox in March). With figures like these, expect to see more and more and more of the Kardashians in the new year.

wwd.com

 

[kokurox]

No Sale Yet

Robbie Myers, Joe Zee and their colleagues at Elle will have to wait a little longer to see if they’ll have new cousins over at Hearst. Elle’s French owner, Lagardère, is believed to have two offers for its publishing portfolio, one from Hearst and one from Germany’s Bauer Publications. Reportedly, Bauer has proposed 650 million euros to 700 million euros, or $850.3 million to $915.7 million at current exchange. There are a few roadblocks in the way of a sale, namely control over Elle, but sources said a deal (if it happens) won’t happen until after the holidays. Nonetheless, some investors are anticipating a deal, trading Lagardère’s stock up 4.9 percent to 30.84 euros, or $40.35, earlier last week.

wwd.com

 

[tigerrouge]

A positive and negative look at the news that iPad magazines aren't doing as well as hoped, from zdnet.com and forbes.com:

Sharp fall in iPad mag sales as novelty wears thin

Laura June at Engadget reports:

According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which collects magazine circulation data from companies willing to furnish numbers, all iPad magazines have seen fall offs in downloads over the past few months. Wired was averaging 31,000 downloads from July through September, had 22,000 and 23,000 respectively in October and November. Other magazines have seen similar declines: Vanity Fair sold 8,700 downloads of its November issue, down from an average of about 10,500 from August through October; GQ sold 11,000 copies, its worst showing yet.
​

This is bad news for publishers. And it indicates that iPad magazines benefited from a novelty factor but that that novelty soon wore off.

What’s puzzling is that iPad sales have been soaring all year; you would expect a rise in magazine subscriptions just based on the percentage of rising iPad sales. Yet we don’t see this at all.

This seems to indicate that the early adopters are the ones that would try out iPad subscriptions first, since by definition they are early adopters; but as the iPad moved into a more mainstream audience there would be a lower take up since this is a different market.

It might also indicate that there has been little follow up marketing. I remember the buzz around the first iPad magazines but I’ve come across little since then.

So it this downward trend a marketing failure or a platform failure?

Do people want to consume their magazines on an iPad? It seems not.

 

[tigerrouge]

The slightly more optimistic-sounding article, exciting graphs courtesy of forbes.com:

Why Magazines Aren’t Selling on the iPad

According to a new report from Women’s Wear Daily, digital magazine sales are on the decline. A closer look at the data, however, reveals that sales are not nearly as bad as they appear.

The report, which cites numbers released by the Audit Bureau of Circulations, points out that magazine sales on the iPhone and iPad are down across the board.

Vanity Fair sold 8,700 digital copies of its November issue, down from an average of 10,500 between August and October, while Glamour moved 2,775 iPad issues in November, down 35% from September.

GQ, meanwhile, had its second-worst digital sales months since its debut on the iPad in April, having only sold 11,000 copies on the iPad and iPhone in November. Men’s Health had its worst performance on record, averaging 2,000 iPad sales in October and November, roughly a 30% decline from spring.

Wired rounded out the decline with an average of 22,500 sales in October and November, down from 33,711 in September and 100,000 in June, the month of its much-applauded arrival on the iPad.

When you compare digital sales to print newsstand sales, however, it becomes clear that digital sales numbers aren’t nearly as poor as they first appear. In fact, after an initial spike, the sales performance of issues on the iPad and iPhone roughly correlate their performance on the newsstand (note that except for Wired, sales data is relative

Vanity Fair Single Issue Sales

Glamour Single Issue Sales

GQ Single Issue Sales

Red dot marks the first release of GQ’s iPad app.

Men's Health Single Issue Sales

Men’s Health did not report iPad sales data for July/August.

Wired Single Issue Sales

However, given that more than 14.1 million iPhones and 4 million iPads were sold during Apple’s fourth quarter (which ended on September 25) and have continued to sell since then, fall sales should be trending higher. So why aren’t they?

1. Price: The number one complaint about magazines on the iPad is the price. It’s difficult to justify $4.99 for content that will entertain consumers for, at most, six hours — especially when a) much of that content, including those oh-so-special behind the scenes videos, is available for free on the web and b) other apps provide so many more hours of entertainment for half the price. Furthermore, it’s difficult to persuade current subscribers to pay for individual issues when they’re already receiving the same content at a fifth of the price in print.

2. Lack of Exposure: It’s not easy to browse for magazines in the App Store, which are stowed among hundreds of thousands of other apps. Magazines need their own iBooks app that resembles a newsstand, or at least a dedicated area in the App Store. Magazines need to showcase the covers and some of the content of their latest editions in order to trigger the same impulse purchases made at checkout counters.

3. Failure to Innovate: Part of the reason the first iPad editions of magazines sold so well is because they delivered truly novel experiences for the device, from animated covers to interactive graphics. The problem is that the experiences haven’t evolved since then. The same bells and whistles are attached to each app; only the content differs.

4. Large download size: Magazine apps need to slim down. Wired’s first issue was half a gigabyte, or nearly one-thirtieth of the smallest iPad’s 16 GB storage capacity; the first issue of The New Yorker, a weekly, came in at 173 MB, thus discouraging consumers from downloading apps in the interest of saving space. Their size also prevents users from downloading issues over 3G.

If rumors that Apple will soon allow magazines to sell subscriptions are true, thus substantially lowering the cost of digital issues, we can expect to see a reverse on the recent declines. Until then, magazines need to up innovation and decrease size to increase their appeal.