Memo Pad: Weekly Reader... Not In Vogue... Celebrity Journal...
Published: Tuesday, August 14, 2007
(Page 2 of 2)
The newsweeklies, which generally garner a small portion of their total circulation from single copies, reported even softer results. Newsweek reported flat total circulation growth, at 3.1 million. Time reported a 17.1 percent decline in total circulation, to 3.4 million, and single-copy sales declined 13.6 percent. The magazine underwent a major transition this winter — it pared back its rate base to 3.25 million from 4 million, bumped up the cover price to $4.95 from $3.95, and switched its publication date to Friday, a move which managing editor Richard Stengel called a "home run" in terms of subscriber satisfaction (which nevertheless is not reflected in its soft numbers). "Ninety percent of our subscription base gets it by Saturday morning," said Stengel. But when the title was published on Monday, "people weren't always sure of what day they got it. Now it's a weekend magazine. They have time to read it and they spend more time with it." Finally, figures for The New Yorker and New York prove once again that there's little correlation between ASME awards and better circulation performance. The New Yorker reported a slight increase in total circulation, at 1.1 million. New York, meanwhile, reported a 1.4 percent decline in total circulation. — Stephanie D. Smith NOT IN VOGUE: Men's Vogue has lost two top members of its visual team: creative director Russell Labosky and photo editor Mark Jacobson. A spokeswoman for the magazine said the two had left "to pursue other interests," and that the magazine was interviewing successors. — Irin Carmon
CELEBRITY JOURNAL: It's been six months since The Wall Street Journal launched its "Every journey needs a Journal" ad campaign — its first in 10 years — featuring celebrities, and notably liberal ones at that, such as Sheryl Crow and Susan Sarandon. But readers apparently haven't seen their last celebrity Journal endorsement. More "waves" of the brand campaign are in the works, with Wynton Marsalis rumored to be among the next up, although a spokesman couldn't confirm which notable name will be next. Could it be someone from the Rupert Murdoch side of the political spectrum? The embattled Karl Rove perhaps? After all, Rove did talk at length to The Journal's editorial page editor Paul Gigot about his plans to resign from the White House in a piece that ran on Monday. Either way, it looks like Platon, who has shot the campaign so far, will continue on as photographer for the foreseeable future. — Amy Wicks
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