Apple is buying Texture, the digital subscription service for magazines

Apple is buying Texture, the all-you-can-read subscription service (sometimes dubbed the "Netflix of magazines") that lets users in the United States and Canada call up digital editions of more than 200 magazines for a flat fee. 

The enterprise, which started out as Next Issue Media, launched in 2012, is owned by a consortium of big U.S.-based magazine publishers (along with a $50 million chunk owned by venture capital company KKR.) 

Rogers Media launched Next Issue Canada (later Texture Canada) soon thereafter, adding many Canadian titles to the menu offered to subscribers -- along with the U.S. titles. According to a story by Peter Kafka on Recode:

"Apple hasn’t disclosed a price but I’m told KKR will at least get their money back and that the publishers who started the company — Conde Nast, Hearst, News Corp and Meredith (which now owns Time Inc., another founder) — are happy with the deal."

Apple Media boss Eddy Cue said 

“We are committed to quality journalism from trusted sources and allowing magazines to keep producing beautifully designed and engaging stories for users.”

[Apple doesn't usually announce smaller acquisitions, but apparently made an exception in this case because Cue was speaking at the South by Southwest conference this week in Austin, Texas.]

Rogers severs joint venture with Vice Canada

Rogers Media Inc. announced Monday that it is ending its three-year-old, $100 million joint venture with Vice Canada to develop a production studio called Vice Studio Canada and money-television channel Viceland. According to a Financial Post story, 

Viceland, which lost $2.5 million in the year ended Aug. 31, 2016, according to the broadcast regulator, will stop broadcasting on Mar. 31. 

The move comes as no surprise, as Rogers’ three-year deal with Vice expired in October. Rogers’ wireless brand Fido subsequently dropped its Daily Vice promotions.

“In this crowded content universe and as audience habits change, we continue to evolve our strategy to deliver unique content to Canadians,” [Rogers said in the announcement]. “We will be actively exploring new content opportunities that appeal to a broad audience.”

Rogers Media selling magazine content to Postmedia papers for monthly special section

Rogers Media has struck a partnership deal with the Post Media Network to supply a monthly selection of content from its magazines for a special section called Life by Design. 

The content will be drawn from well-known Rogers’ magazine titles including Chatelaine, Flare, Today’s Parent, and MoneySense. The special section will be carried in print and in the ePaper editions of 10 papers, including Vancouver Sun, Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Regina Leader-Post, Saskatoon StarPhoenix, London Free Press, Windsor Star, Ottawa Citizen, Montreal Gazette (starting today) and in the National Post starting September 12.

“We are committed to bringing great content to our readers and this thoughtfully curated section from the lifestyle experts at Rogers fits our readers’ interests in areas including parenting, design, and financial planning,” said Gerry Nott, senior vice president content and senior vice president National Post in a release.

TC Media acquires most of remaining Rogers Media b2b financial titles

Most of the remainder of the Rogers Media business-to-business titles have now been sold to Transcontinental Media GP. The transaction encompasses seven brands and associated events, custom publishing and market research -- largely in the finance area.

Properties covered in the deal (including all trademarks) are: Advisor's Edge and Advisor's Edge Report (advisor.ca ) Adviser and Adviser to the newspaper ( conseiller.ca and conseiller.ca/pme), Benefits Canada (benefitscanada.com and smallbizadvisor.ca) advantages ( conseiller.ca/avantages), Canadian Insurance Top Broker (CITopBroker.com), Canadian Investment Review (InvestmentReview.com ) and Canadian Institutional Investment Network (institutionalinvestmentnetwork.ca).

The magazines and other properties will now be part of a division including TC Media's other finance-related titles such as Investment Executive (investmentexecutive.com ) and Finance and Investment ( finance-investissement.com ) , The Business and The Business Plus - including Events Les Affaires - ( lesaffaires.com ) Acquizition .biz, Constructo Journal, (groupeconstructo.com ) and a management System for electronic bidding of the Government of Quebec (seao.ca).

Related posts:

• Most of Rogers's b2b titles now sold; a few titles remain in play
• Rogers Media goes digital-first with a bang in its magazine division

Layoffs and reassignments underway in Rogers Media's English language mag division

Layoffs and reassignments are underway in the English language magazine division of Rogers Media. According to a story in the Financial Post, one of the most high profile departures is Mark Stevenson, the editor-in-chief of Maclean's magazine. His role is being taken over by deputy editor Alison Uncles. 

Some unspecified staff are being severed entirely; others are being told they are no longer working for a particular title, but reporting and editing for a "vertical" division of the operation, which may mean writing for a variety of digital and publications remaining in print form. Reports are that 27 people are being let go. The company said it would have further announcements soon.

Rogers announced in September that, as of the end of December, Flare, Sportsnet, MoneySense, and Canadian Business will no longer produce print magazines and their content will only be available in digital form. The whole of the business to business division of the company was put up for sale (and many have been sold) as are several well-known French language brands such as L’actualité. Titles which don't find buyers will be closed down; one such casualty is to be LouLou, English and French.

Related posts:

• 60 will be laid off at Rogers Media's French magazines by year end
• Most of Rogers's b2b titles now sold; a few titles remain in play
• Rogers Media goes digital-first with a bang in its magazine division

60 will be laid off at Rogers Media's French magazines by year end

As of December 31, 60 employees of  L'Actualité and the French versions of Châtelaine and Loulou will be out of work and only 20 employees will remain at the Rogers Media French language magazine division. 

According to a CTV Montreal story, the company, which announced in September that it was putting most of the French language magazines up for sale (and selling off its business-to-business titles in both English and French) is in negotiations to sell the well-respected newsmagazine L'Actualité. A deal should be announced within a few weeks.  

According to a Financial Post story, 

The layoffs also come in advance of plans to halve French-language lifestyle magazine Châtelaine’s print schedule to six issues per year, beginning in 2017. This mirrors previously announced changes to its English-language counterpart, Chatelaine. Both publications will continue to publish regularly through digital platforms. 

In September, Rogers said it intended to sell Châtelaine, but [Rogers spokesperson Andrea] Goldstein said the company has since reevaluated and was “able to create a model that could support the continuation of the brand in French.” 

Finally, after failing to find a buyer for women’s magazine LouLou, Rogers will close the English and French language versions of the publication at the end of the year. Rogers said it was unable to close deals with potential buyers who expressed interest.

Brunico, which publishes strategy, has purchased rival Marketing from Rogers Media

Brunico Communications Ltd., the privately held publishers of strategy, has announced that it has acquired Marketing magazine, CARDonline (CARD) and the National List of Advertisers in a deal with Rogers Media. The sale is part of the divestiture of business-to-business publications that was recently announced by Rogers. 

Strategy, which was founded in the mid-80s. has until now been a competitor and rival of the 110-year-old Marketing in targetting the advertising and marketing sector; it  also publishes Strategy Daily, the email newsletter Media in Canada and Stimulant, as well as running conferences and award programs like Agency of the Year, Creative Report Card and Shopper Marketing Forum, and partner events like the CASSIES. 

It's not known yet whether there will be a straight ahead merger of titles though editorial director Mary Maddever said the intention was bringing the marketing community "the best of both".  

“We have long enjoyed a friendly rivalry between strategy and Marketing that has benefited the industry through a competitive focus on evolving content and programs to better serve the audience,” said Russell Goldstein, president and CEO, Brunico in a release on their website “Now we are excited to welcome the Marketing and CARD/NLA team to Brunico and look forward to combining forces and working with all our partners and industry stakeholders to collaborate on even greater offerings in the years to come.”

Marketing magazine was launched in 1908. It produces the Media Innovation Awards and Marketing Awards. CARD and NLA are databases designed to help media agencies and advertisers make informed media buying decisions. Marketing's key audience is made up primarily of advertisers and marketers. The print magazine says it distributes 6,000 copies per issue and says its online site has about 438,000 page views. 

Publishers freed from renewal restrictions as Rogers Magazine Service winds down

A notice making the rounds about the Rogers Magazine Service says that, effective immediately, publishers are no longer required to suppress publisher renewal notices and may now roll subscribers' names into their regular renewal efforts. It is one of the many knock-on effects of the recent announcement that Rogers will be suspending print publishing of some of its magazines and reducing frequency for others. 

The magazine subscription service has been providing continuous and periodical renewals, for 18 years for both Rogers Media titles and other publishers, including Canadian titles including (as examples) British Columbia magazine, Canadian Running, Cottage Life, Garden Making. Outpost, Motorcycle Mojo, Ricardo, Sky News, Up Here and Zoomer, and such U.S. titles as Cosmopolitan, Men's Health, O The Oprah Magazine, Popular Mechanics and so on. Customers have been able to access it online and through bill inserts, among other things. It will continue to sell and renew subscriptions until the end of December, whereupon the service will cease. 

CTV specialty TV boss moves to run Rogers Media

Rogers Communications has announced the appointment of Rick Brace to run its media business unit (which includes print and digital publishing) effective August 10. Brace comes from a deep television background and has been chair of CTV specialty television, owned by Rogers's sometime rival Bell Media. He succeeds Keith Pelley who was until recently president of Rogers Media.

"This is an opportunity I just couldn't pass up," said Brace. "When you look at the mix of assets, the Rogers 3.0 plan and the digital disruption that's transforming the media industry, this is a tremendous opportunity. Keith has done a terrific job repositioning the media business so now it's my job to use the assets we have and work with the senior team to bring Canadians the content they want, where they want."

Brace will be responsible for managing and growing the $1.8 billion media business, including consumer and trade magazine publishing, broadcast, Sportsnet, the Shopping Channel and ownership stakes in the Toronto Blue Jays, the National Hockey League and Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment.  

Lianne George replaces Karine Ewart as EIC of Chatelaine

Lianne George has been promoted to editor-in-chief of Chatelaine magazine. Since 2014, when The Grid closed, George has served as editorial director of Rogers Media's flagship women's title. She replaces Karine Ewart who had been in the chair about 17 months; Rogers's announcement made no mention of Ewart's departure.

Ewart moved over from Today's Parent in January 2014 to replace Jane Francisco after she was scooped to become editor-in-chief of Hearst's Good Housekeeping. 

George first joined Rogers in 2004 as associate editor at Maclean's, and was promoted to senior editor a year later. In 2009, she was appointed deputy editor of Canadian Business.  In 2010, she left Rogers to help launch Torstar's Toronto weekly, The Grid, where she helped build the publication into an award-winning multiplatform brand – first as deputy editor, then as editor. 

"I've been a Chatelaine reader for as long as I can remember," she said in a company release. "No other publication has such a rich tradition of chronicling the lives of Canadian women – their families, careers, challenges, and of course, the eternal question of what's for dinner.The opportunity to help reimagine Chatelaine across multiple platforms for a new generation of readers is a great honour."

Rogers Media president Keith Pelley leaving to run worldwide golf tour organization

It was announced today that Keith Pelley, the President of Rogers Media, is leaving the company this summer to become the Commissioner and CEO of The European Tour -- a huge, international golf tour featuring 48 events in 26 countries. A company release said:

During his tenure, Pelley repositioned the media business to address the changing media landscape. He reorganized the media division, breaking down silos to function in an integrated manner across the diverse portfolio of assets; he led the push to digital across the publishing brands; launched shomi and Next Issue in Canada; launched Sportsnet magazine to make Sportsnet the only five-platform sports media brand in the country; and expanded the reach of the company's TV assets to deliver world-class content to more Canadians. He joined the company in August 2010. 

Guy Laurence, the president and CEO of Rogers said:

"Keith has done a tremendous job for the company over the past five years and I'm delighted for him and his family. He's been a key player on the NHL file and has done a terrific job of reinventing the way Canadians experience the NHL. Under his leadership, Sportsnet is on the cusp of becoming the number one sports media brand in Canada." 

Investment in Next Issue will expand platform, raise awareness of flat-rate magazine sub service

The U.S. consortium of large magazine companies which run Next Issue Media and with which Rogers partners on Next Issue Canada, has raised $50 million from investment firm KKR to expand the service. It plans to add capabilities to its tablet and smartphone app that include content search, discovering and sharing, according to a story on MediaPost. At least in part with the new investment, Next Issue intends to launch a multiplatform ad campaign on TV, digital and in print. Richard Sarnoff, managing director at KKR and head of the firm’s media & communications investment team in the Americas, stated: 

“Today's consumer demands mobile access to large catalogs of premium content, anytime, anywhere. Next Issue's proven success applying this model to magazines has created a compelling consumer proposition that will serve the interests of readers, publishers and advertisers alike.”

Next Issue was formed in 2009 by Condé Nast, Hearst, Meredith, News Corp. and Time Inc.Currently, Next Issue offers subscriber flat-rate access to 145 consumer magazines ($9.99 a month or $14.99 a month including weeklies such as The New Yorker). Next Issue Canada offers its members about 100 titles on the same terms, including most of Rogers's better known titles such as Maclean's, Today's Parent, Chatelaine and Canadian Business as well as U.S. titles. 

Rogers's Pelley intent on using magazines as feedstock for its other media

Pelley

The National Post feature on the weekend largely focussed on Keith Pelley's strategy for Rogers Communications' magazine division. The outcome will probably be to treat the magazine division as a content farm for Rogers' other media -- radio, television and various sports assets.

“I am focusing more on publishing, because a lot of our strong brands, and the opportunities, lie there ....You’re selling it as more than just as a print magazine. You want to move it towards selling it as a contented, branded company,” Mr. Pelley says, adding that that “in the coming months” Chatelaine will move into merchandise through an association with The Shopping Channel (another Rogers Media property).[As it turned out, Chatelaine launched its own organic coffee brand today.]

Pelley also says that, if he has his way (and it seems clear he intends to) he wouldn't hire someone to write for a Rogers magazine if he couldn't put them on radio and television, too.

He wants the public to encounter Rogers’ brands at every turn and the magazine division offers a wealth of source material for that endeavor.

[Note to Rogers magaziners: Brush up your multimedia presentation skills.]

[photo: Peter J. Thompson, National Post]

Jane Francisco leaving Chatelaine to become EIC of Hearst's Good Housekeeping

The giant Hearst Corporation has announced that it has hired away Chatelaine editor-in-chief Jane Francisco to be editor-in-chief of one of its core titles,Good Housekeeping. Francisco replaces Rosemary Ellis who is leaving the company at the end of December.

Good Housekeeping is one of the original "seven sisters" women's magazines. It has an audience of 25 million each month and is iconically well-known for its Good Housekeeping Seal, bestowed on favoured advertisers by the Good Housekeeping Research Institute.

Francisco has been with Chatelaine since 2009 and what she has done with it since apparently counts big time with Hearst president David Carey.

“Jane is an incredibly versatile editor, leader and branding expert, with the experience and vision to build on the lively, friendly energy of the revamped Good Housekeeping,” Carey said. “We thank Rosemary for the work she has done stewarding this brand, one of the most respected in the media industry.”

Carey continued, “Chatelaine is the largest circulation women's magazine in Canada, and we've been highly impressed with how Jane executed a top-to-bottom modernization of the brand. We're thrilled to have her [Francisco] on the Hearst team, leading one of our core titles.”

Francisco, who refers to her new title as being with "the ultimate women's magazine". was editor-in-chief of Style at Home before going to Chatelaine. Prior to that, she was founding editor-in-chief of St. Joseph’s Media’s Wish from 2004 to 2008, and was appointed editorial director of the company’s Lifestyle Group in 2006, with additional responsibility for Gardening Life and Canadian Family. In 2001, Francisco was named launch editor-in-chief of the beauty and health-focused Glow, where she served until 2004.

Steve Maich named vp and general manager of publishing at Rogers Media

Steve Maich, the founding editor-in-chief and publisher of Sportsnet magazine, has been promoted to be senior vice-president and general manager, publishing of Rogers Media, effective immediately. It means that Maich is taking over most of the duties, though not the title, of Rogers Publishing president Ken Whyte, who recently became president of the company's new marketing venture Next Issue Canada. 

Maich will be responsible for 58 consumer, business to business and related digital assets. Among the titles for which he's now responsible are Maclean's, Chatelaine, L'actualité, FLARE, Today's Parent, HELLO! Canada, Sportsnet, Marketing, The Medical Post, Advisor's Edge and Canadian Grocer.

"Steve not only possesses deep knowledge of the publishing industry and brand development expertise, he also has a strong vision for the future of publishing content within the evolving media landscape," said Rogers Media president Keith Pelley. "We will be counting on Steve's leadership not only within publishing, but as part of my senior leadership team, where his strategic insight will add great value across the Rogers Media organization."

Maich has worked with Rogers in various capacities, including as group publisher of its consumer business magazines (Canadian Business, PROFIT and MoneySense) and editor-in-chief of Canadian Business. Before that he was executive editor of Maclean's, when Whyte was publisher. Before Rogers, he was a reporter and columnist with the National Post and the Halifax Chronicle-Herald. 

"I am truly honoured to have this opportunity to lead Canada's best collection of publishing brands into the next phase of their lives," said Maich. "These are challenging times in the publishing business, but also incredibly exciting times. Millions of Canadians continue to look to our brands for information, entertainment and inspiration. And we've never had more tools at our fingertips to reach our audiences, across multiple platforms, anytime and anywhere they want."

The appointment come the day after Rogers Media laid off 94 people, some of them from the magazine division. 

Chatelaine magazine launches weekly radio program

Chatelaine magazine, which has already plunged into TV, now will have its own two-hour weekly radio program, starting this Sunday. It is one of the many benefits of being part of a multi-media, multi-platform company like Rogers Communications that its flagship publication can team up with Rogers's network of radio stations to kick off a two-hour radio program starting this Sunday.

The Chatelaine Radio show will air every Sunday on 98.1 CHFI at 7 p.m. ET, Lite 95.9 at 8 a.m. MT, and on CHYM 96.7 and Country 106.7 at 6 p.m. ET, according to a story in Broadcaster magazine. (Rogers owns 55 radio stations across Canada, in 29 markets.)

“One year ago, we expanded to television with the Chatelaine Edition on City’s Cityline. The success of that endeavour gives us confidence that our audience and advertisers will also embrace the Chatelaine experience on radio,” said Chatelaine Publisher Tara Tucker. “Chatelaine is committed to helping our audience ‘make the everyday extraordinary’ no matter their favoured platform, and speaking with them through our Rogers radio stations gives us another opportunity to reach our audiences and deliver our content.”

The program will have two hours of music and lifestyle content and will feature the magazine's team of experts including health editor Laurie Jennings, food editor Claire Tansey, assistant fashion editor Tyler French, and other guest contributors such as Chatelaine editor-in-chief Jane Francisco.

“Chatelaine’s fresh, respected and trusted lifestyle content is a perfect fit for these radio stations,” said Julie Adam, vice president, programming, Rogers Radio. “We look forward to connecting with our audiences in a new way by bringing the pages of Chatelaine to life each week during the show.”

Rogers tops 1 million replica app downloads for its 22 magazine titles

Rogers Media magazine titles crested a digital landmark recently when it topped 1 million tablet replica app downloads for its titles. (This does not include downloads of Rogers Publishing standalone apps for tablets and smartphones.) 

The company said in a release that it is the more tablet apps than any other Canadian publisher and was the first major magazine publisher to have every one of its consumer publications on iPad, Android and Blackberry -- including well-known brands such as Chatelaine, Maclean's, Sportsnet, FLARE and HELLO! Canada and several of its business to business titles.

"The last few years have seen revolutionary change, innovation and digital growth within the publishing industry. From the start of this digital evolution, we have worked to deliver our premium branded content to our audiences on their preferred platform. Our successes—on the tablet, as indicated by the million downloads, and on other platforms—demonstrate that we are ahead of the curve in giving our audiences what they want," said Ryan Trotman, digital publisher, Rogers Digital Media.

Maclean's was the first major consumer magazine in Canada to create a tablet edition, in December 2010 and now it has 22 publications on tablet, reaching 1.3 million unduplicated, unique visitors each month.

Among Rogers standalone publishing apps, the Chatelaine 10-Minute Fitness app has reached #1 in 31 countries (including Canada and many European and Asian nations) in the highly competitive fitness and health app category. On iTunes in Canada, it also reached #14 overall (competing against all apps). Launched in May 2013, it was downloaded 50,000 times in its first month.

Walmart Live Better launched as Canada's largest circulation title

Walmart Canada's  magazine Walmart Live Better, which with its 1 million circulation automatically becomes Canada's largest circulation magazine, has been launched. Announced in December, it is a partnership with Rogers Media Inc. and six times a year will focus on beauty, fashion, food and home trends.  

In addition to the print edition, it offers a free downloadable tablet edition, a website, e-newsletter, single advertiser e-blasts and social media via Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

"Canadians want to be inspired by new ideas and stay on budget. With Walmart Live Better they don't have to make a choice. Our team of experts provide great ideas on how to make dollars go farther with style," said Sandra Martin, editor-in-chief of the magazine, in a statement.

Walmart told the Toronto Star that any relationship between the glossy, 100-page magazine and the concurrent launch of a chain of Target stores (and their more downmarket flyers) across the country is purely coincidental. 

"Walmart Live Better is really about making inspiring ideas accessible, attainable and affordable to Canadians," said publisher Christopher Loudon in a company release. "The unique partnership brings Canadians a fresh and informative multiplatform magazine."  (Loudon was at one time the founding editor-in-chief of  Rogers's HELLO! Canada magazine, group publisher and editor-in-chief of Marketing magazine and editor of Inside Entertainment and TV Guide.) 

The magazine's media kit  offers advertisers 1 million circulation and access to 20 million monthly shoppers in the Walmart Supercentres. It says more than 8 million customers visit Walmart each week. A full page is $27,000 in the print edition, and a standard digital ad unit is $40/M. 

The magazine carries advertorial single-sponsor showcases (example at right) in food, health, home decor, baby and child care and fashion categories, which it describes as 

"a contextually relevant environment that supports and reinforces brand messaging. Labelled as Live Better Promotion (not "Advertisement"), these innovative and guaranteed placement options can be custom-tailored for any advertiser, and will be closely aligned in style and content to the rest of the magazine. All promotions are available as single or multiple pages."

Print takes a back seat in Rogers's "multiplatform" sponsorship arrangements

For all the talk of integration of multi-platform marketing and sponsorship in large companies like Rogers Media, its large stable of consumer print publications seems to take the rumble seat. A recent press release trumpeting the addition of five, heavy-hitting sponsorships to the launch of the show Canada's Got Talent on Rogers's Citytv starting March 4, gives nary a mention of the company's considerable print side (boldface emphasis added):

The five sponsors – BlackBerry® maker Research In Motion (RIM), Wrigley’s Excel, ConAgra Foods’ Orville Redenbacher’s, Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Canada, and The Division of Tourism and Transportation of the Tobago House of Assembly – will receive variations in multiplatform sponsorship integration across Rogers Media platforms, which include television, online and mobile devices. Activations also entail on-site presence, in-show content, brandsell opportunities, billboards and bumpers, in-store point-of-sale, co-branded promotions, and an online microsite within CanadasGotTalent.com.

“The breadth and depth of our assets give us the unique ability to create customized integrated business solutions to meet our sponsors’ brand objectives,” said Dale Hooper, Senior Vice-President, Sales & Marketing, Rogers Media. “We are thrilled to round out our strong portfolio of sponsors for Canada’s Got Talent with these iconic brands.” 

These brand partnerships join previously announced Canada’s Got Talent founding partners Nissan Canada Inc., Rogers Communications Inc., and Tim Hortons Inc.  

Rogers media division sees 9-month profit drop of 34%

Rogers Communications media holdings, which include the company's magazines (both consumer and trade) but also broadcasting and the Toronto Blue Jays baseball club, saw a fall in operating revenue of $22 million (about 6%) in the three months ending September 30. Operating revenue for the division for the quarter was $364 million, compared with $386 million in the same period a year ago. Adjusted operating profit for the period was $36 million, down from $43 million in the same period a year ago, a decline of 16%.

For the first three quarters, ending September 30, revenues declined $88 million or about 8% and adjusted operating profit was $63 million, down 34% from the same period a year earlier.