No better way to kill a 108-year-old magazine than put somebody who is about that age on your cover.
In 1901, Theodore Roosevelt was just elected president. Only 14% of the homes in the US had bathtubs. There were only 45 states in the US. The average wage was 22 cents an hour. Who was buying all the jewelry that forced somebody to publish a magazine about it?
Nobody is chasing Harry Winston any more.
Does anybody see the sweet irony in Trump magazine going bust the day his interview appears in The Wall Street Journal explaining his wealth?
This is another financial train wreck Niche Media inherited from acquiring Ocean Drive Media. Trump magazine was about to go under after three years when Ocean Drive came in to rescue it in September 2007. It was described in the New York Post as a "five-year $20 million partnership" in the New York Post.
Niche has been quietly folding a number of its Ocean Drive properties, which makes their acquisition probably one of the great magazine deal busts of the last five years.
If you'd really like a stroll down memory lane, allow the Reaper to show you the Donald's other publishing failure, Trump World.
Here's how they described this misguided vanity project:
Trump World magazine takes readers inside Donald Trump's world, travel to exotic locations and fine dining establishments. It gets you up close and personal with the superstars of today & tomorrow and bring you back stage with the contestants of The Apprentice.
A Niche Media double death header, quietly done under the radar, both part of acquiring Ocean Drive's stable a couple of years ago.
The bottom dropped out of the Florida economy, Jerry Powers cashed out just in time for Jason Binn and his partners to take the hit.
Ocean Drive espanol went in the same direction as co-investor Gloria Estefan's career and did the conga to "el morte." InsideOut wanted to be the sunshine state's premiere shelter magazine, but unfortunately Florida turned out to be the foreclosure state.
The full-figured woman bit didn't work with Mode (may it rest in peace), so it was not going to work for the Charming Shoppes' custom magazine that it published with Meredith.
Figures.
With winter ski resorts desperate to get anybody who can schluss on the slopes, it was a matter of time before Forbes was going to cut all "non-core businesses." That mean Mountain Time, its affluent Rocky Mountain lifestyle magazine was going to do a Sonny Bono.
A short life for Mountain Time, as it only launched last year.
Ascent is making its descent... and it should be arriving here any second now.
Ascent, which I bet you thought was devoted to ballooning, flying or even the sense of smell, is Canada's first yoga magazine. On its 10th anniversary, the owners decided that it would not be economically feasible to publish any longer.
The Reaper is an excellent yoga practitioner because I am so limber. With no muscles or skin to worry about, the Reaper can stay in the lotus position for a very long time. The job can be quite stressful, so after a hard day out on the River Styx, I put on an Enya record, twist myself up into a knot and think about all the trees I'm saving.
Distinction, a magazine for affluent Long Islanders, has the distinction of being the last magazine the Reaper takes with it in 2008, a busy year.
With that, the Reaper goes off into the deep dark night to ring in a whole new year of magazine extinction.
Extinction! Now that's a good name for a magazine!
The rich used to be different. Now they are like everybody else. They don't read anymore. They may not even be rich anymore either.
Today, Niche Media pulled the plug on one of the properties it inherited from Ocean Drive, Atlanta Peach. Launched in 2006 to replicate its success in Miami, Ocean Drive threw a lot of money getting Atlanta Peach off the tree. Atlanta already had Atlanta magazine and other upscale competitors like The Atlantan, Pink. The multi-million dollar launch party was hosted by Pamela Anderson and Ludicris, and you can see the video proof here.
However, if you've ever seen "The Real Wives of Atlanta" on Bravo, it would be difficult to believe those women were reading anything except menus.
Could Niche Media's ill-timed magazine for the Chicago rich, Michigan Ave, be next?
It's two-for-one Friday here at the River Styx, as the Reaper came knocking at Manhattan Media and taking its magazine with a zip code for a name, 02138.
If you didn't live in that zip code, would that magazine matter to you? It's for Harvard alumni and they're supposed to be "educated, affluent and influential." Too bad no advertisers want'em!
Former Giant magazine publisher Jamie Hooper is out of job again after a few months at this one. What an unlucky touch!
L'shana tova to all my Jewish friends. I was out last night celebrating the new year and the Reaper couldn't hold its liquor. I woke up about mid-day today with the worst kosher wine hangover you could imagine. I don't hold my liquor well because, well, let's face it, it's not easy when you're mostly bones.
Silly me, I killed a magazine too. It was like that movie "What Happens In Vegas," except instead of waking up married, I woke up with a nice Jewish magazine next to my bed, all keeled over.
Being the Jewish version of Good Housekeeping was a good idea because Jews don't bake gingerbread houses every Christmas. However, magazines like this don't belong on newsstands because they could catch a cold or something or poke an eye out. They should have been controlled circulation and marketed through synagogues and Jewish organizations.
Next week on Yom Kippur, we will say mourner's kaddish for Jewish Living magazine.
