This gallery is devoted specifically to a small selection of print publications whose demise was primarily a result of the changes taking place within the magazine publishing industry caused by the Web. The "Magazine Death Pool," operated by someone who identifies him/herself only as the "Grim Reaper," expands this selection (along with other sad news about the industry).
Premiere
On March 5, 2007, Hachette Filipacchi Media U.S. announced that it was shutting down the U.S. print edition of Premiere , and that the magazine would survive as an online-only publication. 25 jobs were cut.
Premiere 's circulation in 2006 was 492,000, down from a peak of 616,000 in 1995, and ad sales drop 25% in 2006. Before the closure, Premiere tried to sell subscriptions to a digital version of the magazine, but this was soon abandoned.
The last published issue was the April 2007 (featuring Will Ferrell promoting Blades of Glory on the cover). However, the issue offered readers no warning that it would be the last. In late April subscribers were sent postcards informing them that the magazine had ceased publication. They were informed that the balance of their subscriptions would be fulfilled with issues of Us Weekly . Negative response to the offer immediately was posted to the magazine website's forum pages by unhappy subscribers, and soon it was announced a cash refund would be available for those who preferred one.
Elle Girl
US teen title ELLE Girl closed its print magazine after the June/July 2006 issue, after five years of publication. ELLE Girl had a circulation of around 600,000 in print compared with an online readership of 3.8 million page views and 500,000 visitor sessions each month. Thirty staff were laid off.
InfoWorld
Steve Fox, Editor-in-Chief of InfoWorld announced on his blog on March 26, 2007 that on "April 2, 2007, InfoWorld is discontinuing its print component. No more printing on dead trees, no more glossy covers, no more supporting the US Post Office in its rush to get thousands of inky copies on subscribers' desks by Monday morning (or thereabouts). The issue that many of you will receive in your physical mailbox next week - Vol. 29, issue 14 - will be the last one in InfoWorld 's storied 29-year history."
A former InfoWorld editor Jim Forbes wrote in his "obit " on the publication: "InfoWorld , which is owned by IDG, has a storied history. In its more than 20-year life, this magazine has been the launchpad for several notable computer journalists including Stewart Alsop, Maggie Canon, John Dvorak, Jonathan Sacks, Ziff Brother's Investment counselor Michael Miller, PBS' Mark Stephens (who left InfoWorld with the name of the magazine's fictional field editor and gossip columnist, Robert Cringely) as well as New York Times technology journalists Laurie Flynn and John Markoff."
In an article in the Boston Globe , Bob Carrigan, president of IDG Communications said that "InfoWorld had experienced a steady decline in advertising, as more people have begun reading the publication online. ‘There are still a number of accounts that like to do brand advertising and run print ads, but it's not the business it used to be.'....‘The advertisers go where the audience is.' Later in the article he continued, "the trends are not good for print . . . we're quickly moving to a place where print is not going to be the predominant revenue stream for us."
TV Guide (Canadian Edition)
On November 25, 2006, after 30 years on supermarket magazine racks, TV Guide Canada discontinued its print edition to become a web-only publication. Transcontinental Inc., which publishes the Canadian TV Guide , stated that readers would rather get their TV listings in digital form. The print edition's circulation dropped to 243,000 from 430,000 during the preceding four years.
Ziff Davis
As I report in my blog entry , on March 5, 2008 Ziff Davis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection "in a bid to shed $225 million in debt." The company's largest remaining publications are PC Magazine and Electronic Gaming Monthly , which should survive the reorganization. This is really more a symbolic death, representing the decline of a once-great publishing empire, famous for launching Popular Aviation magazine in August, 1927.
BACK