Food and dyin' magazines

Eating out? Don't ask me, I'm all bones. The only traveling I do is when some unlucky magazine's time is up.

As a matter of fact, these magazines are beginning to look more like me. Emaciated.

You don't need crop circles to see the signs for food and travel magazines:

1. Nobody's eating out these days. You have to be half nuts to open a restaurant and if you do, it had better be cheap eats.
2. You can find recipes on the web about as frequently as bad financial advice.
3. Airlines have cut back dramatically with flights and closed down unprofitable routes because people don't have money to travel.
4. Hotels built up and expanded so much that by the time the economy slammed on the brakes, there was a glut of rooms everywhere.

So who are the likely candidates? The usual rules can certainly apply in these categories.

If you believe in the Reaper's Third In A Category Rule, then National Geographic Traveler may be sailing into the sunset with the Reaper at the mast. They are already carrying half the ad pages of the first and second titles.

If you believe in the Reaper's Rule of Redundancy, then Conde Nast is going to be closing either Gourmet or Bon Appetit. The market will not bear two food magazines produced from one company.

If American Express really wants to tighten its belt, it could play musical titles by merging Travel + Leisure with Food & Wine to create Travel + Food? Wine & Leisure? How about Travel + Leisure + Food + Wine?

Comments

[Marley]

I don't read cooking magazines, so this is no big deal for me. But "Nobody's eating out these days" simply isn't true. I go out to eat all the time. I went out last night and the place was packed. For some of us,cooking is slave labor, boring and pointless. It's what people with no lives do. Why would anybody waste their time cooking when they can pay somebody to do it for them? I generally don't even keep food in my house outside of peanut butter, soup, and creamed corn.

[Buddy]

I agree that people are still eating out, although probably not as often. Otherwise, your comment makes Bill O'Reilly seem thoughtful.

[Zoe]

Nat Geo Traveler ended up 8% this year... agree on the redundancy factor, but magazines that are still profitable are few and far between, obviously '09 will probably be a different story - but still very few books ended '08 up - so wouldnt put this one on the endangered species list quite yet. Gourmet is hurting... but dont think Conde is ready to swallow folding that one yet...

[tracy]

awww. finally you find one i liked to read. maybe even subscribed to "gourmet" for a year. never could (afford to) visit anyplace they talked about nor afford the time and ingredients to make it myself, but i once spent three hours reading a book about cheese to assuage my appetite, so.