Is this the cover of a successful magazine? Does seeing an unkempt and wasted Michael Pitt taking a drag make you want to pick this magazine up from the newsstand?
Worry no more because Mass Appeal <ironic title if there ever was one> is gone.
Deadline Hollywood: "TV Guide Is Getting Gutted Today."
Mediaweek: "Publishers Sweat Over Low Rates, Soft Marketplace"
First let's get to the corrections. Last week, it seemed that American Photo had a 100% drop in ads to date, but that was an error on Mediaweek's calculations, off by just 97%. They're only down a mere 3%, so you're off the Biggest Loser list!
Updated with this week's information from Mediaweek, here's how the list now shapes up on percentage down ad pages as of today....
HOT UP AND COMERS
Fortune -24.69%
Fitness -24.08%
Cycle World -23.67%
With apologies to NBC-TV, the Reaper has its own version of "The Biggest Loser," except it's played with advertising pages.
The Reaper notes the 10 biggest percentage losers of magazine ad pages through the year to date, courtesy of the Magazine Monitor at Mediaweek.
Through April 21, 2008, here are the Biggest Losers:
UPDATE: A comment to this post indicates Mediaweek made a serious error calculating American Photo's ad pages. We will correct this post as soon as the right numbers are in.
Time Inc.'s Ann Moore says their magazine portfolio will be "trimmed" in 2008. The Reaper says come on down for the "The Price Is Right!" A company this messed up shouldn't take long to "execute" (cough) their strategy.
Which are the likeliest Time Inc. magazines to say bye bye before the end of this year? Vote for your favorites below in the comments section (and we do accept write-ins!):
>> This Old House
>> Coastal Living
>> Sunset
>> Sports Illustrated KIDS
>> Entertainment Weekly
>> Fortune Small Business
US News & World Report, always one of the Reaper's surefire candidates for extinction, took one step closer in that direction today by announcing its had cut its rate base 25% from 2 million down to 1.5 million, and lobbing 10 issues off its frequency to 36.
When you are the number three book in one of the hardest hit categories, you have one big target on your back. Clinging on to its "Best Colleges" franchise, this magazine may make Mort Zuckerman wish he kept Radar open and killed this one.
A barber's waiting area favorite, US News & World Report is mimicking Consumer Reports, scaring the bejesus out of its readers, yet impressing nobody. Mort had better sell a building or two to keep this one afloat.
