- Greg

- Greg

Very good points and I think you’re absolutely right. It really does depend on the sector.

I didn’t hit on this point because I have neither the data nor the first hand experience to say for sure, but trade magazines and tech do seem to be problem areas. I would assume cars and any type of magazine that depends on product reviews will have trouble.

However, for consumer magazines as a whole, it’s amazing how little the zeitgeist matches the data. I think the iPad will be a game changer as well. It actually has the potential to make the online experience superior to the offline experience.

- Greg

Your points depend on the type of magazine. I would never work for tech in print again. Tech barely exists in print at all much tech writers are not free lance bloggers or doing something else.

Fashion might have a chance because the visuals in a fashion magazine can not be recreated in digital at this point today. I still believe it’s a long slow decent for print. I had a conversation with a friend who was involved in fashion in the 90’s. Apparently even photographers are starving today. Print’s pinnacle was in the 70’s and 80’s maybe part of the 90s for all involved . It’s been down hill since and will continue sure their might be a slight up swings on the way down. However in a decade half print publications we see on the newsstand today will be gone or eBook only.

Jim

I know it might seem like that from a certain point of view because that’s what the headlines say. However. from an insiders point of view (i.e. someone who actually runs media businesses) I can assure you it’s not the case.

1. If Magazines are profitable, but lose money on distribution, then advertisers are willing to foot the bill.
2. Magazine publishing is profitable (digital media isn’t as an industry).

I can tell you from experience that it is much easier to make a print business profitable than an internet business.

- Greg

But I’m not sure I can agree that “advertisers are willing to foot the bill” — at least not on the scale they once did.

Even Condé Nast, owner of many of the most iconic, resilient magazine brands in history, faces a <a href= http://paidcontent.org/article/419-newsweek-conde-nast-mags-face-1-billion-ad-decline/$1 Billion dollar ad decline.

It’s rough out there.

Because advertisers are willing to foot the bill. Magazines have been losing tons of money on distribution (in the US anyway) for a very long time.

- Greg

I admire contrarian viewpoints. They are rarer than they ought to be, especially when things are changing rapidly.

The part of your thesis I struggle with is this. The costs of producing and distributing content have shrunk to essentially zero. And, the devices we consume content on continue to multiply.

IMHO, the laws of supply and demand are kicking in hard and this will sharply devalue the pricing of all content.

How do you think magazines can make a comeback in spite of being much more expensive content, delivered much slower than the internet?

If you have a formula for this, I think every print publisher on Earth would like to talk with you